Broken Heaven
by Hannah554
Summary: AU, sometimes it takes almost losing something before we realise how much means to us. ShepWeir and RononTeyla
1. Chapter 1

Okay, I wasn't going to post this yet but I have very little will power when it come to fanfiction so here it is. I've borrowed some ideas from my other AU, Catalytic event, those of you who've read it will recognise them when you see them.

Disclaimer: I do not own Atlantis or any of its characters.

Broken Heaven

Chapter 1

They had met, they had fallen in love, they had got married and now they were paying the price for the speed at which it had all happened. The first few years had been pure bliss, sure they'd had their arguments like all married couples but in the end they always worked it. Things were different now though, after five years of marriage everything was falling apart.

For the first time in three months Elizabeth Sheppard awoke before her husband. For months now he had been leaving for work long before she even woke up and not coming home until late when she was already fast asleep in bed. They barely spoke to one another and when they did it was always in full blown arguments over whatever was at the forefront of their minds at the time.

She turned over to see John still sleeping beside her though he was facing away from her. There was as much distance between them as they could have without one of them falling out of the bed. She sighed quietly to herself as she sat up and got out of the bed and walked into the bathroom. She showered and dressed quickly before heading downstairs.

She was sitting at the counter in the kitchen scanning though the morning paper and finishing off her coffee when she heard the tell tale signs that John was awake coming from upstairs. Ten minutes later John walked into the kitchen ready to face another day at work. He glanced at her only for a moment before busying himself making his coffee.

"What are you doing up so early?" he asked without turning to look at her.

"I have a few things to do before class this morning," she answered him quietly and silence once again filled the room as they both went about their business. After several minutes she'd had enough at the risk of staring another argument she broke the quiet.

"We need to talk," she stated simply and quietly as she put the paper down and looked at him.

"I know," John said as he stopped was he was doing and turned to look at her.

"I only have one class today so I should be home around midday," she told him.

"I'll pick you up at three, we'll go and get something to eat and…talk," he stated and she nodded her head before standing up and leaving the room. She grabbed her bag and her keys from the hall way and walked out of the house and to her car. Dropping her bag into the passenger seat next to her she started the engine and drove away.

- - -

John watched as Elizabeth's car pulled out of the drive way and disappeared down the street. It had been strange to wake up this morning without her asleep next to him. He had gotten used to it over the last few months; it was the only time he could spend a few moments looking at her with risking an argument. It was strange when he had first started leaving before she was awake it had felt strange then too, he had been so used to getting up with her and both of them leaving around the same time.

He didn't know why it had happened but things between them had gone from blissful to bad and from bad to terrible in a very short space of time. They argued about anything and everything, they'd always had a difference of opinion, opposite views on a lot of things whereas before it had served to balance each other out now it only caused massive arguments which ultimately ended with one of them storming out and neither of them talking again for days.

Avoiding each other seemed to be the only way to avoid arguing, he never meant to get into fights with her it just happened. Whilst Elizabeth had made no move to purposely avoid him he knew she didn't have to; he was doing all the avoiding for her.

He finished his coffee and headed out to his car, driving quickly to the police station and walking in. He found his partner, Ronon Dex, already sat at his desk and John took his seat opposite him. Ronon had been his partner for seven years and he was the one person John had felt comfortable talking about his problems to.

"You're later than usual," Ronon stated.

"Elizabeth left before me this morning; I didn't feel the need to rush."

"I take it things aren't getting any better."

"I'm taking her for dinner this afternoon to talk," John informed him though his voice held very little hope.

"Well good luck, I mean that," Ronon told him seriously.

"Thanks, I think I'll need it."

"You never know, things might start looking up, you could make it work, not that I can talk."

"How's that going anyway?" John asked knowing what Ronon was referring to.

"Is there more than one way for these things to go?"

"I suppose not."

- - -

Elizabeth dismissed her only class of the day with orders to study for a test at the end of the week. She waited until they had all filed out of the room before glancing at the clock, 11:30; she had plenty of time to get home before John picked her up for dinner. She knew why he had chosen to take her out to dinner rather than stay at home to talk, the public setting would minimise the amount of shouting and arguing they could do.

She picked up her files and the box full of essays she needed to look through tonight and made her way out of the class and through the halls of the university. She struggled to carry all the stuff and was relieved when she felt someone take the box from her.

"I'll take that," a voice said and she turned her head slightly to see the face of one of her colleagues looking back at her.

"David, thank you," she said gratefully and he just smiled and gestured for her to continue down the corridor.

"How are you today?" he asked as he fell in step beside her.

"Fine," she lied.

"I know that's a lie," he stated but then went silent indicating he was dropping the matter. They reached her car and David put the box into the back before turning to look at her. "If you ever need anything you know where to find me" he told her and she smiled gratefully before watching him walk away. She took a deep breath and got into the car to drive home.

- - -

"The lab results confirm it," Ronon said as he walked over to his partner. "Oliver Parsons is our killer, we already have the arrest warrant"

"Let's go get him then," John stated and walked out of the building with Ronon heading for their car and getting in the drivers seat. They drove to the address they were both so familiar with now having been there to question Parsons and search his apartment many times over the last few weeks.

Once there they both jumped out of the car and walked casually into the building going straight to Parsons apartment and knocking on the door. Parsons appeared a few moments later and a smug look filled his face as he saw the two detectives standing in his doorway, apparently he thought they were just here to question him or search his apartment again.

"What can I do for you this time detectives?" Parsons asked with an amused expression that John couldn't wait to wipe from his face.

"Oliver Parsons you are under arrest for the murders of Sarah Kyber and Melinda Tellerman," John stated as a look of horror replaced the amusement on Parson's face. John and Ronon made quick work of arresting him and reading him his rights before making their way down the stairs.

"You can't do this!" Parsons shouted. "You've got nothing on me."

Without a word to each other John and Ronon slammed Parsons back into the wall of the hallway. "We've got you're DNA on the knife used to murder Melinda Tellerman," John stated in a hushed tone.

"That's not possible," Parsons said.

"Got a little cocky with the second murder didn't you?" Ronon questioned rhetorically in the same hushed tone John had used "Made you sloppy and now you're going down for it."

Ronon pulled Parsons away from the wall allowing John to grab hold of his other arm again before continuing out of the apartment.

- - -

Elizabeth looked out of her window at the rain pouring down outside, it was now 15.30 and John still hadn't shown up. She knew his job meant that he would sometimes be late but at the same time she knew that this dinner was one of their last chances to save their marriage. She had hoped he would do anything in his power to make sure he was there for it but apparently something more important had come up.

She put on her coat and headed out of the house wrapping her arms tightly around herself to try and block out the cold. She needed to take a walk, clear her head and hopefully when she got back John would be there. They could go out to dinner even if she was dripping wet from the rain which seemed to be coming down harder now that she was in it.

She would have given anything at that moment to have had John show up for their dinner, she hated the thought that something was more important to him than their marriage. A tear escaped her eye despite her efforts to hold it back. It mixed with the rain that was also running down her face. She was so involved in her thought she didn't notice the car come around the corner.

It wasn't until she heard the car horn and the screeching of tires that she looked up and noticed its presence. It was too late though, the car had lost control and was heading straight for her. She barely even had time to register it before it hit her, she felt an explosion of pain in her side closely followed by other explosions of pain elsewhere in her body and then everything went black.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Suzotchka1** – Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this story.

**Steph7085 **– Sorry I made you cry but here's the next chapter I hope you enjoy it and thanks for the review/

**Jess Sheppard-SGA** – Thanks for the review, I hope you like this chapter and I'm sorry it took me so long to post it.

**Alex **– I'm glad you like the beginning and the plot, here's the next chapter I hope you like it and I apologise for taking so long to post this.

**Whirlwind-2005** – Thanks for the review, sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up, I hope it was worth the wait.

- - -

Chapter 2

John arrived home two hours late for picking up Elizabeth, he knew this wasn't going to help their situation at all. This was one of the last chances they had to save their marriage and he was already messing it up. He had been arresting the killer he and Ronon had been after for two months and then he had to do all the work that followed. He hadn't intended to be late but in a job like his things tended to come up that meant being late was unavoidable.

He opened the front door and walked into the house looking for his wife but not locating her downstairs.

"Elizabeth," he shouted but got no response.

He went upstairs checking the bedroom, the bath room, the office and the spare room. He started to get concerned when he couldn't find her and walked back downstairs. It was then that his house phone rung.

"Sheppard," he answered as he picked it up.

"John, its Teyla where the hell have you been I've been trying to get hold of you for over an hour?"

John realised then that he had turned his cell phone off whilst he'd been interrogating Parson's and in his rush to get home he'd forgotten to turn it back on. "I've been at the station, why?"

"John I'm at the hospital, they contacted me when they couldn't reach you. Elizabeth's been in an accident." Teyla's voice sounded solemn which did nothing to help John's current feelings. He felt all the strength drain from his body and his legs went out from under him dropping him onto the couch that was behind him.

"How badly is she hurt?" he asked dreading the answer.

"It's bad, look the doctor needs to talk to me, you need to get here I'll explain everything then."

The line went dead and John had to force his body to obey his brain and get up. He quickly ran outside to his car and arrived at the hospital within twenty minutes. He asked for Elizabeth and the nurse pointed him toward her room. The sight that greeted him almost made his heart stop. Elizabeth was laid in a bed most likely unconscious, she was pale and her face was covered in cuts. She was hooked up to a respirator and the various machines around her were bleeping with a steady rhythm.

Teyla looked up from where she was sitting at the side of Elizabeth's bed and then stood up.

"John," she greeted. "She's in a coma."

Teyla's few words made John's heart break even more than it already was if that was possible. It took him a moment to put any coherent thoughts together.

"What happened?" he asked her.

"I called her at about 3.15; she said she was waiting for you because you were going to go to dinner and talk. Apparently she was walking down the street from your house when the car lost control on the slippery road. They said it must have been moving pretty fast when it hit her, she was in surgery for over an hour and now she's in a coma," Teyla explained everything as best she could.

John's legs almost went out from under him again; she had been waiting for him. He was late and she'd been waiting for him. She'd probably decided to take a walk whilst she waited and that's when she'd been hit by the car. If he'd just gone home on time she'd be fine. He walked over to her side and brushed her hair behind her ear.

She looked so fragile, there was a cut running down the right side of her face from her temple to near her lips. She had a cut down one side of her nose, several on her lips and another on the left side of her forehead. He blinked back the tears that were filling his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he whispered quietly. "I'm so sorry."

"Mrs Dex," a man's voice said from behind John and he turned to see a doctor standing in the doorway.

"Dr Beckett," Teyla greeted. "This is John Sheppard, Elizabeth's husband."

"Of course."

"John, this is Dr Beckett, he's been treating Elizabeth."

"How's she doing?" he asked.

"Well, I'm sure Mrs Dex has explained the situation to you, she's in a coma. She suffered a lot of injuries in the accident. She was bleeding internally and we're going to have to keep an eye on that. She lost a lot of blood and has a few broken ribs and a fracture to her left leg. Her head injuries are severe and the main reason she's in a coma. Now there's every chance that she'll wake up and be completely fine but there are several other possibilities that you should be prepared for," Dr Beckett explained.

John took a deep breath preparing himself for what he was about to hear and he noticed Teyla doing the exact same thing. "Perhaps we should all sit down," Carson suggested and they all did so.

"Okay," Carson began. "The first possibility is that she'll die, as I said her injuries are severe, the internal wounds and the trauma to the head are of great concern to us. The second is that she won't wake up at all; her brain might not recover from the accident. The final possibility is that she'll wake up but won't come out of this unscathed, there could be permanent side effects to the type of head injuries she's suffered. These side effects can range from Amnesia to loss of certain abilities such as speech. Now these are all very real possibilities but as I said before she may wake up and be fine."

"What are her chances?" John asked.

"It's difficult to tell at this point, all we can do right now is monitor her injuries and her vitals and hope for the best," Carson replied.

"Thank you doctor," Teyla stated calmly but her face showed how much she was affected by the situation.

"If you have any questions feel free to ask," Carson told them before standing up and leaving. John looked at Teyla both of them completely silent as they wrapped their heads around what they had been told. Teyla was Elizabeth's best friend and he knew she was going to have as much trouble dealing with this as him.

"Ronon will want to know," John stated. "Do you want me to call him?"

"No that's okay, I'll let you have some time alone with Elizabeth, I'll call him," Teyla told him and John nodded his head and watched her walk out of the room. He then turned to Elizabeth and held her lifeless hand in his own and looked at her face for a moment.

"I should have been there," he stated. "I should have come home on time and we could have gone to dinner and none of this would have happened. I am so, so sorry."

The tears filled his eyes once again except this time he let them fall without resistance. "You have to wake up do you hear me? You have to wake up because I have to put this right, I can't live with out you Lizabeth, please wake up."

Elizabeth continued to lay there motionless and John leant his head on her hand as the tears continued to fall from his eyes.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Aleja21 **– Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you like this one too.

**Alex **– I'm glad you liked the last chapter and that you found it sweet. Thanks for the review and ii hope you like this chapter.

**Fyd818 **– (hugs) I'm sorry I made you cry. Good to know the conflict between John and Elizabeth is so real and that you like the story. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Whirlwind-2005** – Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085** – I'm glad you liked the last chapter and thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy this one too.

- - -

Chapter 3

Teyla stood outside the doors to the hospital and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. She quickly located Ronon's number and hit the call button. She held the phone to her ear with one hand and wrapped her free arm around herself tightly in an effort to block out the cold air.

"Dex," she heard after several moments.

"Hey, it's me," she stated.

"Hey."

"I'm at the hospital with John," she told him sadly, "Elizabeth was hit by a car."

"Is she okay?" he asked concerned.

"No, she's in a coma, the doctors aren't sure if she's going to pull through," she explained quietly trying to keep the emotions she was feeling out of her voice she knew Ronon would pick up on them; if he hadn't anyway.

"I'll be right there," he stated before hanging up and Teyla walked back inside. She walked slowly back to Elizabeth's room to give John some more time alone with her. She knew that despite the current state of their marriage than John still loved her, when she finally got there she lingered outside for several minutes before she went in and sat down in the seat she had spent the better part of the last two hours in.

John was sat in the chair on the opposite side of the bed holding on to Elizabeth's hand as though it were a life line. He gave her a small sad smile of acknowledgement and went back to watching Elizabeth. They both sat the in complete silence and Teyla could feel her emotions beginning to get the better of her. Tears were building up in her eyes and it was taking a great effort from her to keep them from falling.

- - -

Ronon approached the doorway to Elizabeth's room and stopped before he entered, John and Teyla were sat at opposite sides of the bed silently watching Elizabeth both clearly lost in their own thoughts. He looked to Teyla, he couldn't see her face but he could tell from her slouched posture that today's events had taken their toll on her.

"How's she doing?" he asked entering the room and making his presence known.

"Not too good," was John's brief reply.

There was a third seat in the room next to John which he assumed they had commandeered for him. He sat down in it and looked at Elizabeth, she was covered in cuts and he had to take a breath to steady himself. He then looked to Teyla seeing her face for the first time since he had arrived, their years of marriage had taught him how to read her emotions even the one's she didn't want him to see. He could tell she was desperately trying to hold back tears and only just succeeding.

She didn't even look at him, just continued to keep her eyes on Elizabeth but he knew she could feel his gaze on her.

- - -

Teyla and Ronon left the hospital at the same time leaving John to spend some time with Elizabeth. He had seen her car when he had arrived and purposely parked his own car next to it.

"How are you holding up?" he asked her as they both made their way over to their vehicles.

Teyla looked at him for the first time that day and he could see she was about to tell him some lie about her being fine. He gave her a look that made her think better of it and she looked away from him again.

"When they called me and told me Elizabeth had been in an accident I didn't know what to do. I'd only spoken to her half an hour before, I keep thinking if I'd stayed on the phone longer or done something or said something different that maybe she wouldn't have gone out or at least would have gone later even if it was just a few minutes," Teyla explained.

"It's not your fault," he told her calmly.

"I know, I just can't help but wonder."

"Look if you need to talk…" Ronon started but Teyla cut him off.

"Its fine I'll be okay."

"Just because we're half way through a divorce doesn't mean I don't care anymore or that I've lost the ability to read you like an open book, if you need to talk," he stated.

"Thank you," Teyla replied with a sad smile, "I have to go."

Ronon watched as Teyla got in her car and drove away wishing that he could do more. That just wasn't possible anymore, their relationship had fallen apart and he was fairly certain the damage was irreparable. He missed it though, he missed the way they used to be and at that moment he would have give anything to get it back.

He would never stop loving her that much he knew but the chances of them ever getting back what they had lost were all but none existent. He got into his own car and drove away from the hospital.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors Note - **The trailers for all three of my Atlantis AU's are now on my website. They can now be downloaded from there since Youtube deleted my account. The link to the site is on my profile page.

**Fyd818** – There's going to be a lot of John angst or at least I hope there will be over the next few chapters. I'm glad you didn't see Ronon and Teyla's divorce coming, that the way I wanted it. I'm sorry for almost making you cry, well at least a little bit sorry anyway lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Whirlwind-2005** – Thanks for the review, the accident will hopefully make the characters look at their lives a little differently. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085** – Okay, okay here's the update just please stop singing lol! I'm just kidding, you're a wonderful singer but here's the next chapter anyway. I am a little bit sorry for making you want to cry though.

- - -

Chapter 4

It had been three days since Elizabeth's car accident and there had been no change in her condition. She still lay in the hospital bed motionless, the cuts and bruises she had sustained still clearly showing on her face. John had been given a week off work to deal with what had happened and he saw it as a mixed blessing. He knew he wouldn't be able to focus and on his job and that would put people's lives at risk. He could also spend all of his time with Elizabeth. However it also gave his mind plenty of time to think about what had happened and the guilt was eating away at him.

He got out of bed finally giving up on sleep and headed to the shower. It was still early when he was ready to go to the hospital so he decided to try and eat something. He had a few bites of his toast before his appetite once again left him completely. He sighed, he couldn't eat or sleep properly and all he could think of was how if he'd just come home on time Elizabeth would be fine.

Teyla had tried to reassure him that it wasn't his fault; that it was an accident and no one could have predicted it. She had only been able to do so much though since she was struggling with her own feelings. Ronon had done his best as well but he wasn't one for personal talks.

It was still too early to visit Elizabeth so he decided to go for a walk to clear his head. He paused as he picked up his keys realising Elizabeth had probably had almost the exact same thought before she had left the house. He shook the thought out of his head before he left, locking the door behind him. He walked to the park that was down the road and sat on the grass.

Due to the early hour the park was empty with just the odd person occasionally wondering through. The air was still slightly damp from the night's rainfall and there was a light mist still around him. He was completely alone with his thoughts which as always drifted to Elizabeth. He thought about everything that had happened over the last few months, all the time he had spent avoiding her. Now he would give anything to have that time back, to a have her open her eyes so he could tell her how sorry he was.

He didn't care if she never wanted to speak to him again as long as she woke up, well that wasn't true it would break his heart but he would rather that than her remain the way she was now. He took a deep breath as he forced his thoughts away from her current state and the current state of their marriage and to before, to when they had been happy.

Images of their wedding day flooded into his mind, Ronon had been there as best man, Teyla was made of honour. Ronon had looked somewhat amusing in his tux but Teyla had been the picture of beauty in her baby blue brides' maid dress. Nothing could have compared to Elizabeth though. She had been wearing a silk, long sleeve white dress, which had been tight at the top hugging her perfect figure and then flowed lightly to just below her ankles. Her hair had been pinned back beneath the veil bringing out her beautiful green eyes.

The memory was followed by images of Elizabeth's smiling face and all the times they had spent together when they were happy, he longed to get those times back. He looked at his watch realising he had been sat there for over an hour and stood up heading back to his house and immediately getting in the car. He drove to the hospital and gave the nurse a small smile as he went to Elizabeth's room.

She was still there, laid on the bed motionless and he sat down next to her once again taking her hand in his own.

"Hey Elizabeth," he greeted as he always did, he wasn't sure she could hear him but he always spoke to her anyway.

"I think Ronon is going to come by later and Teyla well I know she comes every day after work. She misses you a lot, so do I. God, I wish we could go back to the way things used to be, we were so happy and then everything just went wrong, I don't even know why. I'd give anything to be able to hold you again, to be able to talk to you, see your beautiful smile and hear you laugh, to be able to tell you that I love you more than anything else in the world, more than I will ever be able to put into words. I miss you so much," John told her whispering the last words, tears building in his eyes as he struggled to hold them back.

He leaned over the bed slightly and rested his head against the side of hers and closed his eyes still holding her hand tightly. "Please wake up," he whispered as a tear finally broke through the dam he'd built.

- - -

Teyla dropped the files she was carrying watching them scatter across the floor. She closed her eyes and sighed before kneeling down to pick them up. Another pair of hands joined hers in gathering the files and papers together and putting them back in some semblance of order. She looked up to see the face of her boss and she repressed another sigh.

"Thank," she said standing up.

"What's wrong with you Teyla you've been out of it for days?" he asked a trace of concern evident in his tone.

"It's nothing," Teyla lied and he gave her a disbelieving look.

"It often helps to talk."

"My friend was in an accident three days ago, she's in a coma," she told him.

"I'm sorry, were you close?" he asked.

"We _are_ very close," she replied placing emphasis on her use of present tense which wasn't lost on him.

"Of course, why don't you take the rest of today and tomorrow off," he suggested and Teyla wasn't sure she wanted to take up the offer. Being busy was helping her to keep her mind off things, not much but at least it was something. However she knew she needed to straighten out her head, she was all over the place and couldn't work like this.

"Thank you," she said before she turned and walked away. She walked through the museum and to her office placing the files on the desk. She found a note saying that another artefact needed authentication and she briefly considered doing it before she dismissed the thought.

Picking up her jacket and her bag she left the museum and headed to where her car was parked. She threw her things into the passenger seat and drove out of the car park and back to her house. She went inside and sat on the sofa looking for a moment at the picture that stood on the small table to her side. It was of her, Ronon, John and Elizabeth, they had gone to the beach for the day and she remembered it like it was yesterday.

She and Elizabeth had been sunbathing whilst John and Ronon got into a water fight with a bunch of kids. They had watched their husbands with amusement for several minutes before going back to relaxing. It wasn't until Teyla had felt two strong arms wrap around her waist and pull her out of her chair that she realised the water fight had ended. Ronon held her in his arms as he ran toward the water. Teyla shouted at him to stop as she realised where he was heading and the sound of Elizabeth's shouts momentarily drew her attention to where John had thrown Elizabeth over his shoulder and was heading in the same direction.

The two men had run full speed into the water and dropped the women in with two small screams. Teyla had surfaced a few moments later soaking wet and Elizabeth had been right behind her. It was then that a second water fight broke out this time between the husbands and wives.

It had been a great day, one of many the four of them had shared over they years and she missed them more than she could describe. She wondered for a moment how her life had been so completely… destroyed in such a shot space of time. It had only been seven months ago that her relationship with Ronon had gone bad and it had gotten worse very quickly so much so that they were half way through a divorce. It was then that the great days had ended and only another few months before John and Elizabeth's relationship had followed. Now her best friend was lying in the hospital in a coma and her ability to do her job was quickly disappearing.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Suzoctchka1 **– This is a bit of a lighter chapter, not so much guilt in this one. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Fyd818** – Glad that having Teyla working in a museum worked out well, I was sat there for two hours trying to come up with a career for her so it's good to now I came up with the right one. Good to know the Sparky bits are coming out the way I want them to and sorry for making you cry. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Alex** – The flashback was my favourite part of the last chapter to right, I figured they were happy once so why not show it a little. Glad John's scene worked out and thanks for the review, I hope you like this chapter.

**Mari **– Thanks for the review, I wanted to show John's emotional, vulnerable side a little more in this story so good to know that's working. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Whirlwind-2005** – Thank you for the review, I'm glad you like the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 5

John sat down at his desk ignoring the stares of his colleagues who by now all knew about Elizabeth. Ronon gave him a wary look before sending the others a look that made them stop staring and get back to work faster than if a mass murderer was on the loose. John gave Ronon a small grateful smile at which the tall man simply shrugged.

It was John's first day back since the accident that had landed Elizabeth in a coma. He had spent the last week either by her bed or moping around their home wishing things were different. She still had not woken up in fact the doctors seemed to think she was getting worse if that was at all possible in her current condition. At least being back at work gave his mind something else to think about.

"How is she?" Ronon asked.

"The same, worse even," John explained quietly, "Dr Beckett is seriously trying to prepare me for the possibility that she isn't going to wake up."

"Elizabeth's a fighter, if anyone can pull through this she can," Ronon told him and John was grateful that the man hadn't tried to offer his sympathies. He'd had more than enough of that over the last week. People were constantly telling him how sorry they were, someone had gone so far as to tell him they were sorry for his loss. It had taken all John's restraint not to lash out at the man, to shout that he hadn't lost her yet.

Teyla hadn't been fairing much better in fact John had been forced to intervene when one of the male nurses at the hospital had started offering her his sympathies and John could swear he had been on the verge of flirting with her. Teyla had looked like she was about to beat the man into a bloody pulp so John had grudgingly thanked the nurse for his condolences and all but dragged Teyla back to Elizabeth's room.

"So what have we got?" John asked trying to distract himself from his current thoughts.

"28 year old woman murdered in her home," Ronon explained "The husband was out of town and arrived back this morning so we need to go speak with him."

"Let's go then," John and Ronon stood up and John could feel the stares of his colleagues once again. He also saw Ronon pin everyone of them with a glare that told them to quit it or there'd be painful consequences.

- - -

Teyla walked into the hospital and headed directly to Elizabeth's room where her friend was still lying motionless in the bed. She took the seat next to the bed and sat in silence for a moment.

"Hey Elizabeth, I managed to get the afternoon off work again, all I had to do was oversee the delivery of a new artefact anyway. They can take care of that without me. John went back to work today, which I think is probably a good thing. I think he was slowly going insane, you know what he's like he could never sit still for more than five minutes at a time."

Teyla continued talking to Elizabeth for almost an hour before Dr Beckett walked into the room.

"Hello Mrs Dex,"

"Dr Beckett," Teyla greeted "And please call me Teyla," she requested, she didn't like people calling her Mrs Dex anymore. It was just a reminder of what she was losing, that she and Ronon were no longer the blissfully happy, married couple they had once been.

"Well then Teyla, how about you call me Carson," he suggested and Teyla smiled and nodded her head. Carson turned back to Elizabeth and began to check her vitals "So Elizabeth, how are we doing today?"

Teyla watched the doctor work as he spoke to Elizabeth asking her questions he knew she couldn't answer. She wasn't sure she could be a doctor or a nurse, she wasn't sure she could handle this part of the job. People in coma's, fatally ill patients, broken families… death.

It was something Teyla had thus far refused to even acknowledge as a possibility for Elizabeth. It was something she still refused to acknowledge, she wasn't ready to face that possibility yet. Both she and John had been asked to consider seeing a councillor and both of them had refused.

Carson finished checking up on Elizabeth and then sat down in the empty chair next to Teyla.

"How are you doing lass?" he asked her and oddly enough Teyla didn't find the question annoying. She had been asked that question a million times over the last week and had been given more than her fair share of sympathy. It annoyed her more each time but for some reason this time it didn't.

"I'm fine, coping, it's just hard seeing her like this, she's always been full of life."

"She may very well be again, don't lose hope,"

Teyla smiled slightly "So is this your way of shrinking me without my knowledge since I refuse to see a councillor?"

"Aye lass, whatever works," Carson told her with a smile as he got up to leave the room. "I am serious though, there's nothing more we can do for her except hope, it's all we have so don't lose it."

Teyla watched as he left the room considering his words. He was right all they could do now was hope that Elizabeth pulled through.

- - -

"Wait I thought you said you were in a casino at the time of the murder?" Ronon questioned.

"Did I, I must have got confused I was actually asleep in my room at the time."

"Did she have any enemies, anyone who might want to hurt her?" John asked.

"Not that I can think, she didn't really talk much about work but she would often come home in a bad mood so maybe there was something going on there."

"Of course, well thank you for your time," John said as they got up to leave. "We'll be in touch."

Ronon and John left the house in silence and neither spoke until they were in the car and on the way back to the station.

"I think he did it," Ronon stated. "He wasn't taking a personal vacation in Vegas that's for sure."

"So the husband did it?"

"That's my opinion," Ronon confirmed.

"Why is it marriages can't just remain happy?" John questioned rhetorically and Ronon shrugged. "So if the husband did it we need to know why."

"We should talk to some of her colleagues at work to see if there was anything going on there," Ronon suggested and John nodded.

"Where did she work?"

"Denny's diner, she was a waitress,"

"Right," John said "I'm sure there's major drama working in a diner."

"Let's find out,"

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

**Fyd818** – Thanks for the review, I wanted to hug John and Ronon too. I'm glad you like the Elizabeth and Teyla friendship, there is so much potential on the show but I don't think they ever explored it enough. I hope you like this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 6

Teyla left the museum after yet another day of work, she had authenticated two artefacts, set up a new display and helped to train a new employee. She was exhausted and just wanted to go home, curl up on her bed and sleep. As she approached her car she could hear footsteps following behind her. She turned around and had to stifle a gasp as she saw who it was.

"Michael," she said fear running through her which she refused to let show.

"Hello Teyla, how have you been?"

"That's none of your business, what the hell are you doing here?" she asked.

"I came to see you, I figured you'd still be working here though you were just a tour guide making her way through college last time I saw you," he explained taking a step forward forcing her to take one back.

"What do you want?"

"Dinner, how about we catch up, it's been a long time."

"I don't want to go to dinner with you or catch up with you or even see you again, so why don't you just go back to where ever it is you came from," she told him and was relieved when she heard her bosses voice.

"Is there a problem here?" he asked stepping up beside Teyla.

"No, Michael was just leaving," Teyla informed him and Michael nodded his head before turning and walking away. Her boss stood there and waited until Michael was out of sight before turning to Teyla.

"What is he doing back?" he asked Teyla and she shook her head.

"I don't know."

"I remember what happened, if it happens again I want you to tell me," he told her firmly.

"I will, thanks Adam."

He smiled "No problem,"

Teyla turned away and got in her car under the watchful eye of her boss. She drove away from the museum forcing herself to keep her feelings at bay. She finally arrived home at her house and went in locking the door behind her. As She dropped to the floor with her back against the wall she let out a shaky breath cursing herself. After all these years she shouldn't be like this, she thought she had become stronger but the fear was still there.

She hated that he could still do that to her, she hated herself for letting him do that to her. Adam was right though, she couldn't allow herself to fall into the same trap she had all those years ago. Both she and Adam had been tour guides at the time, Adam's father had been the boss. They'd both been different people back then, naïve and eager to please. Adam had been one of her closest friends and had witnessed what had happened between her and Michael. It had been just before she had met Ronon, John and Elizabeth and she had never told any of them about it and she had no plan to do so now.

She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms tightly around them. Maybe he would just go away, maybe her telling him she had no interest in him and Adam showing up would make him leave and go back to wherever he had been for the past eight years.

- - -

John and Ronon had spent over an hour questioning the people working at Denny's Diner and had got very little helpful information. They had learnt that one of the waitresses wanted to be a singer or an actress. One of them had just broken up with her boyfriend of five days and another was planning to quit and work as a secretary somewhere.

The only information they had got that was relevant to the case was that their victim, Marie Bartlett had got along with everyone at work and the only thing that annoyed her was the occasional annoying customer. Ronon had then gone back to the station and John had headed to the hospital.

He got there earlier than he usually did and was surprised when he didn't find Teyla sitting next to Elizabeth's bed. He shrugged it off figuring she had got caught up at work or had simply left early. Sitting down next to the bed he automatically reached for Elizabeth's hand.

"Hey," he said quietly "I finally got to go back to work, Ronon and I have a new case to work on. Young woman, your age actually, she was killed in her home. Ronon and I think the husband did it but we're biased against happy marriages so we could be wrong."

John continued to talk to Elizabeth about his day about times when they were happy for hours before he stood up to leave. He leaned over Elizabeth and planted a soft kiss on her forehead, lingering for a few moments before moving back and leaving the room.

He saw Dr Beckett as he left and walked over to him, "Excuse me Dr Beckett, has Teyla been here today?"

"I don't think so, she wasn't in there when I went to check on your wife which surprised me because she usually is. I kept my eyes open for her but I haven't seen her."

"I'm sure she just got caught up at work," John stated and turned to walk away unable to shake the feeling that something was wrong. He'd known Teyla for years and there was no way she'd let work keep her from coming to see Elizabeth. As he left the hospital he switched on his phone and located Teyla's number before pressing the call button. It continued to ring for several moments as he walked toward his car before he heard Teyla's voice.

"Hello," she answered and John was momentarily surprised, that wasn't her usual greeting and she sounded kind of… wary.

"Teyla it's John, are you okay?" he asked as he opened the door to his car and sat down in the drivers seat.

"Yes I'm fine."

"It's just Carson said you didn't come by the hospital today, I was just worried," he told her noting the relief that he'd heard in her voice when she'd realised it was him that had called.

"Something came up at work and I couldn't get away but I'll be there tomorrow," she explained.

"Okay, well I'll probably see you then."

"Okay, bye"

The line went dead and John stared at the phone for a moment, why did he feel like she was lying?

He shook his head deciding he would make sure he arrived at the hospital early again tomorrow so he could talk to her. Hopefully he'd be able to figure out was wrong with her if there was anything wrong at all. He dropped the phone into the passenger seat as he started the engine of the car and drove away from the hospital.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

**Suzotchka1** – Thanks for the review, Elizabeth's fate will be revealed in the next few chapters. I hope you enjoy this one.

**Whirlwind-2005** – Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085** – Thank you so much for your review, glad you like the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 7

Teyla sat down in her seat next to Elizabeth and for the first time since the accident she didn't speak to her friend. She just sat there in silence so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't notice the time passing by or Carson coming to check on Elizabeth or even when John arrived.

It wasn't until she heard him say her name that she registered his presence or how long she had been sitting there. She looked up to where he was standing in the door way regarding her with a concerned expression. She looked at the clock and noticed the time.

"You're early," she stated.

"I could come up with some excuse but I think we both know I'm early on purpose," he told her and she looked down at the floor. He walked into the room and sat in the chair at the opposite side of the bed without saying a word.

"What's going on?" he asked her.

"Nothing," she lied, he had enough to deal with and didn't need her dumping her problems on him besides she still had no intention of letting them find out about her past.

"Liar," he stated bluntly.

"It's just… everything is finally sinking in and it's kind of overwhelming. Things are really messed up at the moment."

"Yeah, they are," he replied sadly.

"I'm going to go and let you have some time with Elizabeth," Teyla informed him and stood up to leave the room.

John watched her go and waited until she was out of sight before he turned to Elizabeth. "Why do you suppose she's lying?"

He took Elizabeth's hand in his own and used his free hand to brush a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "You'd get the truth out of her. What do you think I should do, leave her to figure out whatever it is on her own or find out and try to help?"

"Maybe I should talk to Ronon," he said quietly and looked at her for a moment "You're right that would be a bad idea and she would probably kill me for it."

- - -

Ronon walked into the apartment that had become his home over the last few months. It still didn't feel like home, just a bunch of rooms he happened to live in. Teyla had stayed in the house when they had split up, he'd insisted on being the one to move out wanting her to have a safe home to live in. She had argued at first but eventually she had relented probably more out of a desire to end the arguments it caused.

He sat down wishing that somehow he could make everything go back to the way it had been. He and Teyla still happily married along with Elizabeth and John, no car crash, no divorce, just the four of them, happy.

Part of him knew that wasn't going to happen but a bigger part him wanted to keep the hope alive, a hope that was very quickly dieing. He needed that hope, he needed to keep believing that somehow everything was going to work out in the end. He knew that without that hope, he wouldn't survive, he wouldn't be able to make it from one day to the next.

- - -

"Okay a little to the left," Teyla instructed and the two men moved the sculpture as they had been told. "That's prefect, thank you."

The two men nodded and left the room leaving Teyla to stare at the new display. It had taken them all day but the new western display was finally done. She looked at her watch and realised her shift had ended over an hour ago.

"Looks good," she heard her boss say from behind her and she turned and smiled gratefully at him. He moved to stand beside her admiring the new display.

"For the amount of time we just spent putting this together it should look fabulous," Teyla informed him and he smiled.

"It does, come on I'll walk you to your car," he stated and Teyla raised an eyebrow at him but allowed him to escort her out of the building anyway. He had taken to hovering around her whenever she was at work, he always escorted her out of the building both at lunch and at the end of the day. They had barely made it into the parking lot when they heard a familiar and unwelcome voice behind them.

"Well doesn't this look cosy," Michael said.

"What do you want?" Teyla asked him angrily.

"You."

"Well you're not going to get me so why don't you just go," she told him.

"You know me, I'm very persistent," Michael stated taking a step toward Teyla and she unconsciously took a step back. Adam stepped forward though cutting Michael off from her.

"I think you should just leave," Adam informed him and Michael glared at him for a moment before backing off. Adam and Michael were about the same build and a fight between them could go either way.

"I'll see you later Teyla," Michael told her before he turned and left.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked her.

"I'm fine," she lied which she seemed to be doing a lot of lately. She mentally cursed herself for stepping back knowing it had showed him that she was still afraid of him. She offered Adam a forced smile and got in her car driving away and praying that Michael would just go away. He was right though, he was very persistent and always had been. It had taken a lot for her to get him out of her life the first time round and she wasn't sure she had the strength to do it again, especially not with everything else that was going on in her life right now.

She drove to the hospital and froze when she saw Ronon sitting in Elizabeth's room. Of all the people who could have been sitting there why did it have to be him? She took a deep breath and put on the best façade she could manage. Ronon was probably the one person in the world who could tell if she was lying no matter how hard she tried to hide it. John and Elizabeth could usually tell but if she hid it well enough she could get away with it, Ronon however could always tell.

"Hi," she said entering the room and sitting in the chair at the opposite side of the bed.

"Hey," he replied quietly.

"How are you?" she asked hoping if she kept up the conversation he wouldn't get the chance to notice something was wrong.

"As well as can be under the circumstances, what wrong?" he questioned looking a little concerned and she found herself cursing silently for the second time that day. Why did he have to be able to read her so damn easily?

"Nothing," she shrugged off to try and give herself time to formulate her lie.

"Teyla?"

"I'm just having a hard time dealing with everything, it's too much all at once," she explained glad that it wasn't a complete lie.

"Everything's changed hasn't it?" he questioned sadly and she nodded.

"I was thinking about that day on the beach, when you and John threw me and Elizabeth in the water."

A small smile graced Ronon's lips as he remembered the day she was talking about, one of many the four had shared.

"You got into a water fight with those kids, where did you get those water pistols from anyway?" she asked curiously.

"Borrowed them from a couple of other kids," he told her and she smiled "It was a good day."

"It was," she agreed and caught his gaze as he stared at her with a wistful expression on his face she was sure was mirrored on her own. Teyla looked away from him realising that staring wistfully at her soon to be ex-husband probably wasn't a good idea. She turned her attention to Elizabeth as did Ronon but it was only a few seconds before she felt his gaze on her once again and she tried to ignore the feeling of him watching her.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

**Authors Note: WARNING: There are two scenes of domestic violence in this chapter, I think they'll be the only ones in the story though there will be several references to it in the next few chapters.**

**Fyd818** – I figured poor Teyla needed someone on her side right now with everything going on and her boss seemed like the perfect guy for the job. There is still something there between Ronon and Teyla and as for things working out, well we'll see lol. Thanks for the review.

**Steph7085** – Thanks for the review and I hope you like this chapter.

Chapter 8

Ronon sat down at his desk opposite John and stared at his friend for a moment. He knew something was wrong with Teyla, she had been trying to hide something from him yesterday when they had both been at the hospital. Unfortunately he was out of the loop when it came to her life so he had no idea what it could be. John however had spent more time with Teyla that week than he had so it was possible he new something Ronon didn't.

"Ronon, if you don't quit staring at me I'm going to shoot you," John told him without looking up from the report he was reading.

"I saw Teyla yesterday," Ronon stated.

"Yeah, she said you stopped by the hospital," John informed him finally looking up.

"Something was wrong with her," Ronon informed his friend who had a knowing expression on his face.

"I know, when she didn't turn up at the hospital to see Elizabeth a few days ago I called and I could tell something was wrong. I went to the hospital earlier the next day to make sure I'd have the chance to talk to her."

"What did she say?" Ronon asked.

"A lie, I have no idea what's wrong with her."

"Elizabeth would get it out of her," Ronon stated and both men smiled at the thought.

"Yeah, she would," John finished and silence settled between them.

"I never saw his hands," Ronon said suddenly and John looked at him in confusion "The husband, I never saw his hands, if the skin under the victims fingernails is from her attacker then it probably comes from his hands or his arms."

"I never saw them either and he was wearing that suit jacket to cover his arms," John replied thoughtfully

- - -

There was a knock at the door and Teyla put down the book she was reading to answer it. She wasn't really reading it anyway, her mind was too much of a mess to able to focus on it properly. She opened the door and froze as she saw Michael standing in front of it, how had he found her?

"How the hell did you find me here?" she asked.

"Followed you home from work, gotta say this is a step up from the apartment you were living in when I left."

"Get out of here," she said moving to slam the door shut but Michael put his hand on it forcing it to open again and pushed past her into the house. "Michael get out!"

"Nice," he commented looking around, she noticed his eyes fall on a picture of her and Ronon and he moved to it and picked it up. "Who's this?"

"None of your business," she told him making a grab for the picture but he moved it out of her reach and continued to look at the other photos.

"He's in a lot of your pictures, so are these two," he stated gesturing to a picture of Elizabeth and John.

"Michael just give me the picture and leave," Teyla said firmly and Michael turned to look at her obviously having no intention of going anywhere. Every instinct she had was screaming at her to get away from him as fast as she could but he was in her house and if she did try to get away from him she doubted she'd get very far. "Leave or I'll call the cops."

Anger flashed through Michael's eyes and it was the only warning she got before he hit her. The force of the impact made her take a step backward in an effort to remain standing and she resisted the urge to reach her hand up to her face.

"You should know better than to threaten me Teyla," he told her angrily. "I'll be back."

Teyla watched as Michael threw the picture of her and Ronon on the floor stamping on it and shattering the glass frame. He walked out of the house then and Teyla remained where she was standing taking several deep breaths to keep herself from panicking. Her face where Michael's fist had hit her was stinging and she knew there'd be a bruise there tomorrow. She quickly ran to the door closing and locking it before going to sit on the couch.

Flashback 

_Teyla arrived at her apartment after yet another day of giving groups of people tours of the museum. It wasn't a particularly difficult job but it was tiring and rather repetitive though there was usually someone in the group with a sense of humour and the voice to use it. It made the job a little more interesting._

_Michael was sat on the couch watching the T.V and she found herself regretting that she had ever given him the key to her home. She reached up to touch the bruise around her eye that was finally beginning to heal, though the bruises on her back and stomach were taking their time. She shook her head angry at herself for the thought and closed the door. Michael turned to look at her a smile on his face as she walked over to him. He stood up and kissed her cheek gently before looking at her for a moment._

"_How was your day?"_

"_Same as always, did five tours today we were quite busy, what would you like for dinner."_

"_Surprise me," he told her kissing her cheek again before sitting back on the couch. Teyla nodded her head nervously though thankfully Michael hadn't seen it. She went into the kitchen and started trying to figure out what to make. She reached to get a bowl from the cupboard but it slipped through her finger and smashed on the floor._

_She cursed inwardly as dropped to her knees quickly and nervously picking up the broken pieces of glass. Michael came into the kitchen and she didn't need to look up at him to know he was angry._

"_Why can't you be more careful?" he shouted and she winced at the anger in his voice._

"_I'm sorry," she said almost pleading with him._

"_Sorry won't replace that dish will it?" he stated kneeling down in front of her._

"_It was an accident," she defended and immediately regretted it, she knew better than to challenge him. Michael grabbed her hand angrily and placed the shards of glass he had picked up in it; he then closed her hand around the glass and held it tightly. She tried not to cry out in pain as the glass cut into her skin and blood began to drip from her hand._

_Michael pinned her with an angry glare. "You should learn to be more careful, now you need to clear this mess up."_

_Teyla nodded her head and Michael finally let go of her hand and walked out of the room. She opened her hand allowing most of the glass to fall out of it onto the floor. She started picking the remain shards out of the fresh cuts hoping none of them were bad enough to need stitches and would heal on their own._

_End Flashback_

- - -

"Things are getting pretty messed up aren't they?" John asked Elizabeth even though he knew he wouldn't get an answer. "How did the four of us go from being so happy to this? Our marriages are falling apart, you're in a coma, something's wrong with Teyla and we she won't tell us."

John sighed as he sat forward in the chair not letting go of her hand. "You've been lying there for two weeks. That's two weeks since I heard your voice or saw your eyes and I don't know how much longer I can hold it together. I never realised just how much you meant to me, how much I needed you until now. I don't even know if you can hear me, I hope you can, I hope you know that I would give anything in the world to go back and change this."

"Mr Sheppard," a voice said from the doorway said as Dr Beckett walked in. "I'm sorry to interrupt; I just need to check on your wife."

"That's okay and call me John," he informed the Scottish doctor.

"Then call me Carson, Teyla already does."

"I noticed," John said wit a small smile as he watched Carson check his wife's vitals and write something down on her chart.

"How are you?" Carson asked and John almost smiled again. Teyla had told him that Carson had tried to subtly do the therapist thing with her and had been waiting for his turn.

"I'm as good as I'm going to get until she wakes up," John stated.

"Well, her injuries are healing; the cuts and bruises she sustained during the accident are disappearing. I doubt she'll even have scars so things are looking up but her head injury was very severe so I can't promise anything," Carson explained and John nodded his head slowly.

"Do you think she can hear us?" he asked.

"I think so," Carson replied with a small smile.

- - -

Teyla looked in the mirror in front of her at the bruise forming on her cheek. She had tried to cover it with make up but it was still slightly visible. She picked up her phone and called the museum knowing if she went in Adam would notice the bruise and he would know what had happened.

"Hi, this is Teyla Emmagan I won't be able to make it in to work today… I think it's just a little flu or something but I'm not well enough to make it into work… thank you, I will… bye."

Hopefully that would buy her some time at least until she had to visit Elizabeth later. If she went a little earlier than usual then maybe she could avoid Ronon and John and they wouldn't see the bruise. She couldn't avoid them forever but the more time she bought herself the more time she had to come up with an excuse and the more time the bruise had to heal. Maybe if she was lucky by the time she had to face them the bruise would have healed enough to be covered by make up and they would never know.

She picked up her foundation and once again tried to cover up the bruise though she knew it was a futile effort. She had already been trying for over an hour with no such luck. Still she had nothing else to do so she might as well keep trying.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

**Fyd818** – Don't worry I'm sure Michael will get what's coming to him. Good to know you like the John and Elizabeth scenes and Carson being a therapist. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085** – Thanks for the review, I'm really glad the flash back scene worked out, I was a little worried cos I wanted to make it as realistic and true to life as possible. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Whirlwind-2005** – Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 9

Teyla was just getting ready to leave for the hospital having been unsuccessful in completely hiding the bruise. A knock at the door made her jump and then freeze completely. It wasn't until there was a second knock that she forced her body to move toward the door. She opened it slightly and was partly relieved when she saw Adam standing there.

He looked at her in concern for several moments before she sighed and opened the door fully to let him in. He walked past her into the house and she kept her face turned away from him hoping that she could keep him from seeing the bruise. Unfortunately she just wasn't that lucky right now.

"What is that?" he asked reaching for her face and she took a step back.

"It's nothing, I walked into the door."

"That's not going to work with me Teyla, I was there the last time you used that excuse remember," Adam informed her. "Michael hit you didn't he?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"He followed me home, it was my fault I provoked him," Teyla explained.

"I heard that one last time too."

"Adam…"

"Don't do this again Teyla, don't fall into his trap. Your husband and one of your best friends are cops…"

"No," Teyla stated adamantly. "I don't want them to know."

"You can't just let him get away with this," Adam told her frustrated. "I knew something was wrong when you didn't show up for work."

"Adam, I know what you're trying to say but please let me deal with this my way, please," Teyla pleaded and Adam stared at her for a moment before reluctantly nodding his head.

"I'm watching you, if I see one more bruise or even suspect that he's getting to you again I'm going to stick my nose where it doesn't belong, understood?"

"Understood Adam," Teyla responded.

- - -

Ronon walked into Elizabeth's room to see Teyla sitting in the chair beside the bed. She sat there completely silent as she stared at the floor. Her posture was slouched and he couldn't see her face through the light brown hair that had fallen in front of her it. He didn't need to see her face though to know the sad expression that would be present there. His heart ached for her in that moment and he wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and help her with whatever it was that was making her so sad.

He stood in the door silently for several minutes just watching her. She barely moved and she never made a sound, she was so different to the person he knew. Teyla was always so energetic and for the most part she was always smiling. When she was upset she had always talked to him, he'd had to battle with her in the beginning to get her to talk to him but it had become second nature to her.

He took a step into the room and she finally registered his presence. She tilted her head slightly in his direction but did not look up enough for him to see her face. A second later she was standing up and grabbing her bag to leave.

"Sorry Ronon I have to go, I just remembered I have something to do," she stated and her voice sounded somewhat panicked. It also wasn't lost on him that she never looked at him the entire time. When she raced out of the room he had yet to see her face.

He started to go after her but when he made it out into the corridor she was almost running out of the door at the end. He sighed and walked back into Elizabeth's room, knowing John would bet there any minute. He'd had to go and drop some stuff off at his house before he could come today.

As if sensing his thoughts John walked in only moments later and took his seat beside Elizabeth automatically reaching for her hand. Ronon watched as John smoothed back his wife's hair and whispered his greeting to her.

"Did you see Teyla on your way in?" Ronon asked him.

"No, why?"

"She was here when I got here, she wouldn't look at me. As soon as she realised I was here she got up and ran out of the room faster than I've ever seen her move. She never looked up at me once."

"Something is seriously going on with her," John stated. "I know she'll probably kick my ass for this later but maybe you should go talk to her. Whatever it is she obviously isn't going to tell us and I've respected her privacy until now but if it's as bad as we're thinking it is then we need to find out what it is."

Ronon nodded his head in agreement and turned to look at Elizabeth. It had been a few days since he'd been able to come and visit her and he regretted he couldn't come more often. Work however had kept him busy and he'd been subtly doing more than his fair share of the case so that John could spend more time at the hospital.

"Ronon, you're not going to be happy until you talk to her so go," John said the slightest hint of a smile on his face and Ronon nodded once again and left the room.

- - -

Teyla got out of her car outside her house, she caught sight of a movement in the corner of her eyes and she didn't need to look to know who it was. She quickly went inside and locked the door praying that Michael would either stay where he was or go away, preferably the latter.

Why had Ronon been at the hospital so early? She knew her hasty exit and poor excuse would have made him suspicious but she had panicked. When she'd realised he was standing behind her she had panicked. The bruise was still visible on her face and the last person she wanted seeing it was Ronon. He'd start asking questions and he wouldn't stop until he was satisfied that he had the truth from her.

She heard a knock at the door and stared at it in fear, she knew who it was. Ignoring it seemed to only make it louder and she sat on the sofa desperately hoping he would leave. There was another loud knock and Teyla shrank back into the sofa hoping it would swallow her up. She heard the tell tale signs of someone trying to open the door.

"Teyla open the door!" Michael shouted and Teyla flinched at the obvious anger in his voice. Her conversation with Adam that morning echoed in her mind and it was one of the only things preventing her from doing what he wanted.

"Teyla!" he shouted again.

"Teyla open this damn door!" Michael called clearly getting angrier with her refusal to let him in.

"Please go away, please go away, please go away," Teyla whispered repeatedly as she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her knees. The knocking finally subsided and silence blanketed the house. She didn't dare check to see if he was gone, she just sat there in silence.

Somewhere in her mind she registered the phone ringing but she made no move to answer it. A tear escaped her eye and slowly slid down her cheek despite her efforts to hold them back. She needed to do something about this; she couldn't remain this way, afraid to move in her own house. Michael had been part of another life and she couldn't let him ruin this one or rather what was left of this one.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

**AthosionWarrior** –Glad you like the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter, thanks for the review.

**Steph7085** – I figured poor Teyla needed a friend and Adam seemed the character to do it. Don't worry I'm sure Michael will get what's coming to him eventually. Thanks for the review.

**Fyd818** – Glad you liked Adams part in the last chapter and that John and Ronon are figuring it out. I wanted to hug Teyla too and I'm sure Michael will get what's coming to him. Thanks for the review.

**Izzles** – Hey Izzles, lol. Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like this story and the relationships. Good to know you like the conversations between John and Elizabeth and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Whirlwind-2005** – Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 10

John and Ronon sat in the apartment of Sandra Jones, their victim's sister. She was definitely a pretty woman, her long blonde hair and startling blue eyes made for an attractive combination.

"I still can't believe she's gone," Sandra stated tears building in her eyes.

I know this is difficult but can you tell me of anyone who would want to hurt your sister?" John asked her.

"No, Marie got along with everybody, she had this beautiful friendly smile. No one would want to hurt her."

"What was her marriage like?" Ronon asked and both he and John noticed her stiffen for a second before she answered.

"It was good, they had their problems like all married couple, you know like which colour to paint the kitchen," she informed them with a small smile and she paused for a moment before continuing. "She loved James, things were a little strained recently but she was committed to making it work."

"Strained how?" John questioned.

Sandra was quiet for several moments as if trying to decide exactly what she should say. "He was working late a lot and she… she was convinced he was having an affair, though she never confronted him about it."

"Where were you at the time of the murder?" John asked and she looked at him with a brief anger in her eyes.

"Why do you need to know that?"

"We just need to exclude you from the investigation."

"Oh, I was here asleep." Sandra told them and John nodded his head.

"Okay thank you, we'll contact you if we have any more questions."

Sandra showed them out of the house and they waited until they were in the car before speaking.

"Think she's telling the truth?" Ronon asked.

"She was lying about something," John replied. "Husband having an affair?"

"Wouldn't surprise me, we already know he was lying about his whereabouts during the murder, maybe he was having an affair. Maybe she finally confronted him and he killed her for it." Ronon theorised.

"It's possible, did you see the way she reacted when we asked about her sister's marriage?"

"Yeah, there's definitely something going on there," Ronon answered "Next stop Annie Davis, apparently Marie's best friend."

"Okay, did you speak to Teyla yesterday?" John questioned.

"No, I tried to call her but she didn't pick up the phone, I was thinking I'd go to the house after work."

"Probably a good idea."

- - -

Teyla entered her house and dropped onto the sofa. Having learnt her lesson yesterday she had left the hospital early. Thankfully Michael seemed to be nowhere in sight though she wasn't naïve enough to think he'd given up and left. He was far more persistent than that and she knew he'd be back sooner or later. She just hoped it was later when she had finally sorted her head out. She was strong enough to stand up to him now, she was sure of it, she just had to put up a brave front and tell him she wouldn't put up with it this time. Easier said than done.

The knock at the door made her jump "Damn it Teyla, get a hold of yourself."

She moved to answer the door, if it was Michael she would just have to tell him outright that she wouldn't stand for it anymore. She opened the door and was surprised to see Ronon standing there. She was so surprised that she forgot about the bruise still colouring her cheek.

"Teyla, what happened?" he asked.

"What?"

"The bruise on your face, did someone hurt you?" he questioned angrily.

"No, I walked into a door," she cursed herself silently at the pathetic excuse which had come out of her mouth more as an automatic reaction than anything else. "I've been so unfocused with everything that going on that I didn't even see it."

"I need to talk to you," Ronon said looking at her disbelievingly and Teyla repressed a sigh as she nodded her head slowly. She stepped aside allowing him into the house that they had once been a home to both of them. He walked past her and she closed the door behind her and followed him.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked her bluntly.

"What do you mean?" she questioned deciding to play dumb.

"You've been walking around in a daze, you barely speak to us and in my case that's not so odd but you always talk to John and you've been avoiding him too. You used to spend as much time as you could at the hospital with Elizabeth and now you're hardly ever there. You look sad all the time, worse than you did when Elizabeth was first in the accident. So tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong," she said adamantly.

"John and I are worried about you Teyla, we know something's wrong," he told her softly.

"My best friend is in a coma Ronon," she stated feeling her frustration coming to the surface. "She might never wake up, how do you expect me to be, of course I look sad all the time and being around John just reminds me of her. I haven't been spending as much time at the hospital because it's too hard, I can't do it!" Teyla was shouting now and she took a deep breath to calm herself.

"You're lying," he stated simply, his green eyes locked with her brown ones, searching them for the truth that she refused to give him. She kept his gaze and refused to back down, all the fear she had felt from Michaels return was gone for that moment. It was replaced by anger, anger at everything, at Michael for coming back and destroying what was left of her life, at John for not getting home on time the day of the crash, at Ronon for seeing right through her, at herself for letting everything affect her so much, at Elizabeth for going out of the house in the rain and not watching for the car.

She hated herself for the last one, it was in no way Elizabeth's fault and for all she knew Elizabeth had seen the car and tried to get away. It only made her angrier at herself and she wanted to scream and shout and then curl up in a ball and cry.

"Just go," she told him biting back her anger.

"Who did that to you?" he asked ignoring her words.

"I told you I walked into a door."

"You're lying so often now that it's become second nature to you hasn't it, the lies just come out of your mouth," he stated and the sadness in his voice almost made her confess to it all. For a moment she wanted nothing more than to tell him everything, to let him hold her like she knew he would. To cry into his chest and feel his strong arms around her once more. She couldn't tell him though and she couldn't let him hold her like he used to do.

"Please just go," she whispered fighting back tears and he silently turned and left the house though she could tell he was reluctant to do so. She didn't move until several moments after he had gone and she walked over to the door and locked it before moving to sit on the sofa. A sob finally escaped her lips and she buried her head in her knees as she cried letting loose all of her emotions.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

**Fyd818** – Glad you liked John and Ronon on the job, I feel really bad for Ronon and Teyla too now (is mad at self) lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Izzles** – I really wanted to show Ronon's feelings in the last chapter so I'm glad that worked out and Teyla will slowly begin to show her own feelings soon. I hope you like this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Steph7085 **– Glad you liked Ronon in the last chapter, thanks for the review and I hope you like this chapter.

**Whirlwind-2005** – John's and Ronon's case will continue to develop throughout the story so we'll find out soon if you're right or not, I already have it planned but I'm not going to give it away just yet. Thanks for the review.

- - -

Chapter 11

"You should have seen the bruise on her face," Ronon told his partner as they sat at their desks. He had spent days trying to talk to Teyla again but she was very obviously avoiding him.

"You really think someone hit her?" John asked knowing the answer but realised that Ronon needed to talk about it.

"Yeah but who'd want to hurt her?" Ronon questioned.

"No one I can think of," John stated.

"I've tried talking to her again but she won't let me near her, she's purposely avoiding me."

"You're not the only one," John informed him. "She's hardly been to see Elizabeth at all in the last couple of days and she won't answer any of my calls."

"I don't know what to do," Ronon admitted sadly.

"Do you want me to try talking to her?" John asked.

"If you think you'll have more luck than me, which you probably would," Ronon replied. The truth was Teyla probably wouldn't tell Ronon what was wrong under threat of torture, at least not any more. There was a time when she would have told him anything and everything but those times were long gone now. He hated that he couldn't help her, he still loved her as much as he always had and doubted that he would ever stop.

"I'll go and see her this afternoon," John told him.

"Okay, I think I'll go and visit Elizabeth," Ronon stated and John nodded his head.

- - -

Ronon sat in the chair next to Elizabeth's bed and was silent for several moments before he was able to pull together enough of his thoughts. After visiting Teyla a few days ago he felt completely lost. She'd had a bruise on the side of his face he knew hadn't come from walking into a door and she'd lied to him about everything. He didn't know what to do.

"Hi Elizabeth," he greeted quietly. "I know I'm not one for the talking thing even now whilst your in a coma. I don't know what to do, something is wrong with Teyla and she has a bruise on her face and she won't tell me how it happened. I know something is going on, I know she's in trouble but she won't talk to me or John. I don't know if she's even talked to you about it. What do I do?"

Elizabeth gave him no response and he leaned back in his chair with a heavy sigh. He hadn't really expected an answer from her so why did he feel disappointed that he wasn't getting one. Maybe he'd expected some sudden epiphany to hit him and he'd know what to do. Elizabeth was Teyla's closest friend and she always seemed to know what to do when things went wrong.

"It really isn't the same without you know that? Everything is falling apart and we can't put it back together. If you could see us now you'd be so mad, you'd be kicking all our asses for letting things get like this," he told her with a small smile at the thought.

"I don't come to visit you often enough do I? Well I'll make an effort to come more often. John really misses you; he hates himself for not being home on time. I know you don't blame him for your accident but he blames himself. Even Teyla's blaming herself though deep down she knows there was nothing else she could have done."

- - -

John knocked on Teyla's front door and it was several moments before she opened the door slightly. She sighed when she saw it was him and opened the door more so he could come in. He followed her into the house closing the door behind him and waited for her to turn back to him. When she did he saw the bruise that was still clearly visible against her cheek.

"What happened?" he asked her.

"Didn't Ronon tell you, I walked into a door," she replied lifelessly.

"You're a liar," he stated and she glared at him angrily but he was unfazed by it. "Everything you say to us right now is a lie, that's when you're not avoiding us all together. Ronon is miserable because he doesn't know what's wrong or how to help you. You lied to him and he feels so completely defeated that he just let it go. Well you know what; I'm not leaving this house until you tell me truth. Don't bother lying again because I can always tell, I always know when you, Elizabeth or Ronon are lying. So tell me, what happened?"

"I walked into a door," she lied again this time with anger and annoynce obvious in her voice.

"Liar."

"Just get out John!" she yelled.

"No," he told her simply.

"Get out!" she shouted again. "I don't have to tell you anything!"

"Then we'll both be here for a very long time."

Teyla dropped down onto the couch and buried her head in her hands "Please just go," she whispered and he could hear her battle not to cry. He slowly sat down next to her and gave her a few moments to regain her composure before speaking.

"Talk to me, what happened?" John asked softly.

"It was before I met any of you, I was dating someone - his name was Michael. At first things were great but then he changed. At first he just shouted all the time but then he hit me and I left him but he was very persistent, he kept telling me how sorry he was and like an idiot I went back to him. It just got worse; he would beat me over tiny mistakes. Eventually I got away from him and he left, then I met Ronon and you and Elizabeth. He's back, he showed up at the museum about a week ago and now he won't leave me alone."

John kept his anger in check as Teyla finally told him the truth about what had happened. He couldn't understand how anyone could hit a woman let alone one like Teyla.

"He gave you the bruise on your face didn't he?"

"Yeah," Teyla whispered solemnly. "He came here and I threatened to call the cops if he didn't leave, he never responded well to threats."

"When was the last time you saw him?"

"He was lurking around yesterday but he didn't do anything."

"Does anyone else know besides me?"

"My boss Adam, he was there when this happened last time and he saw Michael outside the museum."

"You need to tell Ronon," John stated reluctantly and Teyla shook her head.

"No, you know what Ronon's like he'd kill Michael and I don't want him to know about any of this."

"He has a right to know, he's worried sick about you but it's your choice but if Michael does anything else, I will take action," John told her hoping that she would take his advice and tell Ronon. If nothing else Ronon could threaten Michael with serious bodily harm and scare him off for good.

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

**Fyd818** – Glad you liked the scene with Ronon and the hospital, thanks for the review, sorry it took me so long to update but I hope this chapter was worth the wait. 

**Steph7085 – **Thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Whirlwind-2005 – **I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **Well this is the chapter you've been waiting for, sorry about the wait and thanks for the review.

- - -

Chapter 12

John sat silently next to Elizabeth her hand in his and his thoughts a chaotic mess. He needed to do something about this Michael guy before he hurt Teyla again. He knew it wasn't his place to tell anyone especially Ronon but he doubted Teyla would do it herself. He was drawn out of his musings by a slight twitch of Elizabeth's hand. For a moment he was sure her hand had tightened slightly around his.

He was about to pass it off as his overactive and hopeful imagination when she did it again. He stood up keeping hold of her hand and leaned over the bed.

"Elizabeth?" he questioned unable to keep the hope from his voice. "Elizabeth, sweetheart can you hear me?"

He ran his free hand over her hair praying that she was finally waking up and that it really wasn't his imagination. A sound came out of her mouth which sounded suspiciously like she was attempting to form a word.

"Nurse!" he shouted to the woman passing by the room, she looked into the room and saw Elizabeth move her head slightly before nodding her own head and all but running out of the room. Elizabeth once again tried to form a word but it only came out as a jumbled sound. Carson came running into the room only moments later with another doctor and several nurses. John was ushered away from the bed and forced to stand back and watch.

"Elizabeth, love can you hear me?" Carson questioned but only got another incoherent sound in response. He exchanged a concerned glance with the other doctor that had John worried before he turned back to Elizabeth.

"John," Elizabeth finally whispered as if she was searching for him as she tried to wake up and there were relieved expressions all round the room.

"He's here," Carson reassured giving John a small smile before returning his attention to Elizabeth. John closed his eyes and let the relief finally run through him as the medical staff continued to take care of his wife. He didn't want to leave but he knew that Teyla would never forgive him if he didn't call her and Ronon would want to know too.

He caught Carson's gaze and the doctor nodded his head in understanding before John left the room. He headed toward the exit as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket switching it on as he reached the exit. He called Teyla's number and listened to the ringing tone for a few moments before she answered.

"Teyla," she answered.

"It's John, Elizabeth's awake," he stated simply and there was silence on the other end of the line for a moment.

"I'll be right there," was all Teyla said before she hung up and John quickly dialled Ronon's number hoping the conversation would be just as fast so that he could get back to Elizabeth.

- - -

Teyla parked her car outside the hospital and almost ran to the doors. John had called her only ten minutes ago and told her that Elizabeth had finally woken up. She walked through the hallways of the hospital and stopped for a moment outside Elizabeth's room. Her friend was in fact awake and she watched as Carson finished whatever he was doing and left the room.

She walked in slowly and Elizabeth offered her a small smile as she did so. Teyla couldn't believe how much relief she felt at seeing her friend awake. Her relief was short lived however when Ronon entered the room behind her. She took a deep breath refusing to allow her own personal crisis to ruin this moment. She took a seat next to John beside Elizabeth bed as Ronon sat on the opposite side.

"How you doing?" she asked her friend remembering the long talk she and John had with Carson when this had all started. He had explained all the possibilities including that she would wake up with side effects from the head injury.

"I'm fine," she told her friend sounding rather tired and looking to John to finish explaining.

"Carson says she seems to be fine and have no side effects from the head injury," he told them and Teyla sighed in relief.

"You had us all worried out of our minds," Ronon told her smiling.

"I'll try not to do it again," Elizabeth stated as she looked at the fading bruise on Teyla's cheek. She looked at John and he gave her a look that told her the situation was bad.

"Hey Ronon, let's go get coffee," John suggested. He didn't want to leave Elizabeth's side but he could sense the need for the impending girl talk and decided it would be best if he and Ronon made themselves scarce for a little while. Ronon nodded his head and the two men left the room silently.

Elizabeth stared at Teyla for a minute before speaking "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"I walked into a door."

"Did that work on John and Ronon?" Elizabeth questioned.

"No," Teyla replied honestly.

"Didn't think so, so are you going to tell me?"

"You don't need this right now Elizabeth, you have enough to deal with," Teyla stated.

"That's right I do have a lot to deal with and the last thing I need is to be racking my injured head trying to figure out what's wrong with you so why don't you save me the effort, energy and pain by just telling me what happened," Elizabeth suggested and Teyla gave her a small smile glad that her friend was awake and very obviously herself.

"An ex boyfriend of mine came into town," Teyla informed her friend her smiling fading from her face. "He was abusive, that's why I left him and when he showed up here he hit me."

Teyla knew she shouldn't be surprised by the lack of judgement on her friends face but she was. Elizabeth had always been an understanding person and never judged anybody that didn't deserve to be judged. Teyla couldn't even remember why she had thought her friends would judge her for this.

"Do John and Ronon know?" Elizabeth asked.

"John does, he refused to leave my house the other day until I told him hat was going on."

"That sounds like John," Elizabeth said sadly.

"He was really worried about you, for the first week he hardly ever left your side and then he spent every spare moment here. He hates himself for being late home and blames himself for what happened," Teyla explained.

"I know, I could tell from the guilty look on his face," Elizabeth responded.

"He really does love you, you know." Teyla stated.

"I know."

- - -

"Are you going to tell me what Teyla said to you the other day?" Ronon questioned and John grimaced inwardly having successfully avoided this for days.

"No," John replied preparing himself for Ronon's response.

"What?!" Ronon shouted and everyone in the corridor around them turned to look at them.

"Keep your voice down," John told his friend "I can't tell you because it's not my place to, I told Teyla that she should tell you but it's her decision whether or not she does. I will tell you that she's not alone this anymore."

"Whatever this is?" Ronon stated bitterly, "Have you had chance to talk to Elizabeth yet?"

"No not really, I called you and Teyla whilst the doctors were with her and you both arrived as soon as they were finished. I'll talk to her later when everything's calmed down. For now I'm just happy knowing that she's awake and going to be okay," John replied his voice sounding brighter than it had in weeks. Things were a long way from fine but at least now he had the chance to make things right. Even if Elizabeth never wanted to see him again at least he had the chance.

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

**Izzles – **Yes Elizabeth is finally awake, I figured she wasn't really doing a whole lot in this fic so it was time to wake up. I love writing the Elizabeth and Teyla friendship and you're right there isn't enough of it on he show. Hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Belanna30** – Glad the last chapter was worth the wait and I hope you like this one too, thanks for the review.

Steph7085 – I figured it was about time Elizabeth woke up after being unconscious for pretty much the entire fic so far. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter. 

**Fyd818** – I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I decided it was about time Elizabeth woke up having been unconscious for almost the entire fic. I also figured John wasn't the type of person to break his promises so there was no way he was going to tell Ronon was Teyla said. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 13

The group sat together for an hour filling Elizabeth in on the things she had missed. Everyone avoided the big subjects like the crash and what was wrong with Teyla but it was the first time in a long time that the four of them had sat down in a room together, all conscious and all acting completely civil.

"I think I'm gonna go, I'll see you tomorrow okay," Teyla announced as she noticed Elizabeth starting to get tired.

"Okay, I'll see you," Elizabeth replied and Teyla left the room without another word. Ronon stood up a few moments after she had gone.

"I'm gonna go too, take it easy," he told Elizabeth pointedly referring to her earlier attempt to get out of the bed.

"I will, I learnt my lesson," Elizabeth replied.

Ronon smiled as he left the room leaving John and Elizabeth alone with the first chance they'd had to really talk. John looked at her for a moment gathering his thoughts together.

"I am so sorry," he informed her simply.

"It wasn't your fault," she told him quietly.

"Yes it was, if I had come home on time then you never would have been anywhere near that car, none of this would have happened. Instead I did what I always do; I let work get in the way of my marriage."

"I don't blame you John, you shouldn't either."

"It was probably the last chance we had to save our marriage and I blew it," he stated sadly and closed his eyes when Elizabeth didn't respond. "I know this is probably a little late but I do love you, if I could go back and make this right, I would."

"I love you too but…" Elizabeth paused and took a deep breath her eyes held a sadness he had never seen even during their worst moments. "I think I just need some space to figure things out in my head."

John nodded sadly, if he was honest he hadn't really expected that she would wake up and everything would be fine. He knew that the issues that had been there before the accident would not just go away. They were still there and as clear as they had ever been, maybe even more so than before. "Take all the space you need, just know the last few weeks have shown me how much you mean to me. You are the most important thing in my life and I know it shouldn't have taken this for me to remember that."

Elizabeth stared at him for a long moment; her green eyes - that he was so afraid he'd never see again - were locked with his. He'd had the last few weeks to figure out how he felt, what he wanted, what he needed. Now she had to figure it out for herself and he had to give her whatever time and space she needed to do so.

"Get some sleep," he told her and she nodded her head before relaxing into the bed and closing her eyes. Within moments her breathing settled into a steady rhythm and he knew she was asleep. He took hold of her hand which he hadn't done since she had woken up. He didn't know how she would react to that but now that she was asleep he could hold her hand without worrying. He silently watched her sleep praying that somehow everything would work out.

He knew that he still loved her and that she still loved him but that didn't mean things would get better between them. Ronon and Teyla still loved each other and they were on the verge of a divorce. He winced inwardly at the thought that that could be where he and Elizabeth were heading - not speaking unless someone was in trouble and feeling completely uncomfortable around each other.

He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her hand, his lips lingering against her skin for a few more seconds before he lifted his head to look at her sleeping face. "I hope you can forgive me," he whispered quietly.

- - -

Ronon left the hospital and headed toward his car but a movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned to see Teyla arguing with some guy he had never seen before. He watched for a moment torn between not interfering and his desire to protect her. The argument seemed to get more heated and he was sure Teyla was starting to look afraid. Deciding it had gone far enough he headed toward them picking up his pace when the guy reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Michael let go," Teyla told him trying to wrench her arm free but the man didn't release his grip on her, instead he pulled her closer to him and Ronon had to resist the urge to just walk right up to him and hit him.

"Let go of her," Ronon said and they both turned to look at him. Teyla's expression was a mixture of relief and fear but the guy simply looked annoyed.

"This has got nothing to do with you," the man stated before turning his attention back to Teyla.

"I said let go of her," Ronon repeated his voice leaving no room for the man to ignore him and Michael looked at him angrily before recognition flickered through his eyes and he smiled maliciously.

"The man from the photos," he stated letting go of Teyla's arm. "And who exactly are you?"

"I'm the husband," Ronon replied simply and anger flashed across the man's face which he quickly turned on Teyla who unconsciously took a step back. "And you would be?" Ronon questioned after a moment.

"The boyfriend."

"Ex boyfriend," Teyla corrected adamantly and Michael once again turned angry eyes on her. His expression could only be described as murderous and it had Ronon stepping inbetween the two of them.

"I think maybe you should just leave," Ronon stated and Michael stared at him for a moment before wordlessly walking away and sending Teyla a look that told her he'd be back.

"You shouldn't have interfered," Teyla informed Ronon once Michael was out of sight.

"He's the one who gave you that bruise isn't he?" Ronon asked ignoring her statement.

"No," Teyla lied before opening the door of her car and sitting in the drivers' seat. She went to pull the door closed but Ronon put his hand on it preventing her from moving it.

"You're lying again."

"Get off the door Ronon," she told him and Ronon let go of the door without taking his eyes from hers and allowed her to close it. "Bye."

Ronon watched as she drove away before running over to his own car, if she wouldn't talk to him here then he would have to follow her home and get the answers he needed. He wasn't going to let her keep lying to him especially if that guy had hurt her. He obviously wasn't going to leave her alone and from what he'd just seen he wasn't the kind of guy who liked people standing up to him.

He started the engine of his car and headed to what had once been _their_ home but was now only hers. She had only just got out of her own car when he pulled into they driveway and she turned to look at him sighing visibly when she saw that he had followed her.

"Ronon, I'm not in the mood for another argument," she told him as she walked to the door and unlocked it.

"Neither am I so why don't you just tell me the truth and save us the both the trouble," he replied as he followed her to the door.

"There's nothing to tell," she stated opening the door and turning to look at him.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me," he informed her.

"I hope the ground is comfortable then," she said as she turned to walk into the house.

"Teyla," Ronon started with such seriousness in his voice that it made her stop and turn back to him. "I know things aren't good between us and that I don't have the right to demand you tell me anything anymore but I know that something is going on and you need help, I never stopped caring or worrying so please… tell me what's going on."

Teyla closed her eyes against the torrent of emotions that suddenly hit her. She took a deep breath before opening her eyes and looking at Ronon. "I think you'd better come in."

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

**Fyd818** – I'm glad you liked both John's and Elizabeth's scene and Ronon and Teyla's at the end. I tried to make that chapter as emotional as possible. I figured just because Liz was in an accident didn't mean all their problems would just vanish. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Izzles – **I wanted the scene with John and Liz to be emotional and I didn't think all their problems would go away just because Liz was in an accident. Thanks for the review.

**Steph7085 – **Yep Teyla is finally going to open up to Ronon and I don't think he'll be too happy either. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Nogigglingmajor** – Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter. 

**Whirlwind-2005 – **Thanks for the review, I didn't want to make it so that all their problems vanished because of Liz's accident but hopefully things will work out in the end. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 14

Teyla sat down on the couch next to Ronon looking more nervous than he could ever remember seeing her. She was silent for a few minutes as she stared at her hands which rested on her lap. She turned to look at him, her brown eyes finally meeting his green ones and he could see the fear that was in them.

"It was before I met you, I was dating Michael and things started to get serious, that was when he changed. He started shouting at me all the time over little things and at first I would shout back but it just made him angrier. Then one day things went a little too far and he hit me, he hit me so I hard I fell. I left him after that but he kept hanging around and telling me he was sorry and that it would never happen again. I was naïve then so I believed him and I went back to him."

Teyla paused for a moment taking a deep breath to steady herself and watching Ronon for any reaction. So far he looked angry but that was it, he was waiting patiently for her to finish her story.

"Things were okay for a couple of weeks until one day I was really late home from work and he went crazy. He beat me and a few days later he did it again and then again until it was a normal part of my life. Eventually I left him and he tried to convince me to go back to him again and I probably would have if Adam hadn't stopped me. He was the only person who knew and he really helped me. Michael eventually just disappeared and I moved on. He showed up outside the museum two weeks ago and then followed me here. He is the one who gave me the bruise."

"I'm going to kill him," Ronon stated calmly after a moment.

"Ronon, don't interfere you'll only make things worse," Teyla informed him.

"Teyla he hit you, I'm not going to let him get away with it."

"I can take care of this; I don't need you to protect me."

Ronon looked at her the anger completely disappearing and being replaced by concern and another emotion that was all too familiar. "I'm going to protect you anyway, I always will."

"Ronon…" Teyla began but he cut her off.

"I won't do anything stupid, he just needs a good scare," Ronon told her and he stood up to leave. "Who else knows?"

"Adam, John and Elizabeth," she told him quietly as she too stood up.

"So I'm the last to know?" he asked sadly.

"Well Adam was there the first time and he saw Michael when he showed at the museum, John refused to leave my house the other day until I told him the truth and Elizabeth, well she has that way of getting the truth out of people," Teyla explained and Ronon smiled slightly at thought of his two friends and their methods of getting to the truth.

"I'll see you later," he said before he walked out of the house. Teyla sat back down with a heavy sigh; she knew there was no way she was going to stop Ronon doing whatever he planned to do which no doubt involved John. She just had to hope they didn't get themselves in trouble or make the situation any worse.

- - -

Elizabeth sat quietly in her hospital bed with John sitting silently on the chair beside her. Things between them had been more strained than ever before since she had woken up yesterday. She was sure a lot of the tension between them was caused by her but she couldn't help it. She was mad at him, not for the accident but because he hadn't shown up for their dinner on time.

"Carson," John greeted as the doctor walked into the room. She had almost found it amusing that both John and Teyla were on first name basis with her doctor, it was a testament to exactly how much time they had spent at the hospital.

"John, Elizabeth, how are you feeling this morning?"

"Better," she told him hoping she'd be able to leave soon, she really hated hospitals.

"That's good to hear, your body is recovering nicely from the injuries you sustained in the accident. We're going to need to get you into physiotherapy to help your leg and your hip though. You'll actually be working with my wife, Laura. She's very good; she'll have you running marathons in no time." Carson explained with very obvious affection at the mention of his wife.

"Sounds good, though I may skip the marathons," Elizabeth told him with a smile.

"Laura will be disappointed," Carson joked. "I'm very pleased with the progress you've made in the last 24 hours, all being well you should be able to go home in a couple of days."

"That's great," Elizabeth replied.

John watched his wife converse with the doctor; he couldn't describe how relieved he was that she was okay. Being able to see her without all the wires and tubes attached to her had done more for his sanity than he would have thought. He had been slowly losing it whilst she was in a coma.

"So, a few days?" John questioned after Carson had left the room.

"A few days," Elizabeth replied sounding relieved and John couldn't help the small smile that emerged on his face.

"I know how much you hate hospitals," he stated in amusement and Elizabeth looked at him for a moment before she too smiled.

"Yeah well if they try to force one more hospital meal down me I may have to make a break for it early."

John chuckled lightly. "I'll tell you what, tomorrow when I come by after work, I'll sneak you some real food in."

"Really?" Elizabeth asked smiling.

"Yep, anything you want."

"Anything," Elizabeth said thoughtfully. "How about a Big Mac?" she questioned hopefully and John nodded.

"Big Mac it is," he replied enjoying the first nice conversation they'd had in a long time. A male nurse stuck his head in the door and looked around before visibly relaxing and walking into the room. Elizabeth looked at him curiously as he handed over her pain meds. It was then that John remembered who he was and had to cover his mouth and sink down in his chair to keep from laughing.

Elizabeth noticed his actions and gave him a questioning look which John didn't respond to. He was only just holding back his laughter as the nurse kept glancing warily at the door. When Elizabeth had taken her meds he all but ran from the room and John finally released the laugh he had been holding in.

"What?" Elizabeth asked him.

"Whilst you were in a coma, that nurse kept trying to flirt with Teyla and she tried to kick his ass. Fortunately I dragged her back here before she could do any damage but he's been avoiding this room ever since," he explained and Elizabeth smiled.

"Poor guy didn't know what he was getting himself into," she mused.

"At least Ronon never saw it, now that would have been a scene," John stated laughing at the thought.

It had only been one conversation but it had felt like old times, like the way they used to be and it gave John hope that maybe things would somehow work out between them.

"John," Ronon's voice came from the door way and he turned to look at him. "I need to talk to you."

The tone of his voice and the expression on his face told John that whatever Ronon needed to talk to him about was serious. "Okay."

"I spoke to Teyla," Ronon stated.

"Oh," was all John could say. "Did she?"

"She told me everything," he replied and turned to Elizabeth his features softening slightly. "You look better."

"I am thanks."

"Let me guess," John began knowing his friend as well as he did and only too will to go along with whatever he had in mind. "Operation teach Michael a lesson?"

"Just wanna scare him."

"Well I'm in," he said looking over at Elizabeth. "I'll be back."

Elizabeth nodded her head. "Just try not to get yourselves in trouble," she told the duo.

"We'll try, I'll see you later."

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

**Tiril Nordie – **Welcome to the wonderful world of stargate fanfiction lol, I'm glad you like this story and yes, it is the same Michael from the show. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Izzles** – Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like the relationship between John and Liz and I wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of Ronon either. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 – **Here's the confrontation you've been waiting for, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Fyd818 –** Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the scene between Ronon and Teyla and John and Ronon get to confront Michael in this chapter. Sorry I made you hungry again and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 15

John and Ronon sat in the car outside the museum having both taken the day off work. They had been sat there for three hours waiting for any sign that Michael was hanging around. After following Teyla everywhere for the last two days they had seen no sign of him.

"You know I think we're approaching stalker level," John half joked as they continued to sit, watch and wait.

Ronon was about to respond when his eyes caught sight of Michael walking across the car park. "Show time."

They watched as Michael stood and stared at the museum for several minutes before heading towards it and going around the back. "Where the hell is he going?" John asked.

"I don't know but we better catch up with him before he disappears," Ronon stated as they got out of the car and followed after Michael. The back of the museum was an alley way and they made their way towards it quietly. Michael was stood there staring at the door and they both walked up behind him silently.

"There a reason you're here?" John questioned and the man visibly stiffened as he turned to look at them. His face showed no emotion whatsoever other than annoyance but his posture gave his fear away.

"Public place, I have every right to be here," Michael stated. "Now I remember the big guy here," he said gesturing to Ronon. "And I recognise you from the pictures but who are you?"

"A friend of Teyla's and Ronon's, one that doesn't agree with hurting women," John informed him.

"Oh that, wouldn't have thought she'd have told you," Michael replied as if the issue was nothing of any importance. As if something inside him had snapped Ronon suddenly lunged at the man, his hand going around his neck as he pushed him back against the wall. Michael's feet lifted a few inches off the ground as he struggled for air.

"You're a monster and if you go near Teyla again I will kill you," Ronon told him in a hushed tone that left no room for being ignored. "Do you understand me?"

Michael tried to speak but couldn't get whatever words it was past his constricted throat so he merely nodded his head emphatically. Ronon finally released his grip on him and he fell to the ground quickly standing and dusting himself off.

"Oh and don't bother going to the cops about this little conversation," John informed him and he could tell by the look on his face he had been contemplating it. "We _are_ cops."

Michael's face visibly paled as John smirked and he and Ronon left the alley way and got back in their car. They continued to watch the museum for several minutes before Michael came out of the alley way and left. Just as he disappeared from view two other voices caught their attention and they turned to see Teyla and Adam leaving the museum and heading for their cars.

"Just in time," John stated with a small smile as he watched Teyla walk across the car park oblivious to their presence.

"Let's just hope he's learnt his lesson," Ronon mused as he too watched the woman in front of them.

- - -

Elizabeth walked back into her room with Laura Beckett after her second physiotherapy session. The woman made it almost seem like fun, she would tell stories about her husband in some of his more embarrassing moments and Elizabeth had been surprised when she had shared her own stories about John. When she got back she found John sitting waiting patiently for her and she said goodbye to Laura before sitting on the bed.

"How did physio go?" he asked.

"Good, apparently I'm making excellent progress and the damage isn't too severe," she informed him. "How goes operation teach Michael a lesson?"

"Mission accomplished, we caught him skulking around outside the museum. Ronon threatened him I made certain he wouldn't involve the cops and he skulked away."

"That's good," she told him and an awkward silence filled the room. Despite their conversation the other day things weren't any better between them. He hadn't been able to spend as much time at the hospital as they both would have liked but she didn't mind considering the cause. He had been helping Teyla and as far as she was concerned that was more important than him being at the hospital with her.

"Carson thinks I'll be out of here tomorrow," she told him when the silence became too much to handle.

"That's fast," he commented.

"Apparently most of my injuries healed whilst I was in a coma and given that there doesn't seem to be any side affects from my head injury they don't see a reason to keep me here. As long as I stick to my physiotherapy and take it easy I should be able to go home in the morning."

"I'll take the day off again tomorrow to help you," he informed her and she nodded her head in acceptance. She couldn't wait to get out of the hospital and get home but at the same time the thought made her nervous. With things as strained as they were between her and John living with him again was going to be awkward.

- - -

John woke up early wanting to be sure he got to the hospital on time. Elizabeth should be coming home and despite the fact that he new it would be an uncomfortable situation he couldn't wait. He took his time getting ready when he realised he had woken up two hours before he needed to leave.

When he finally arrived at the hospital he found Elizabeth already up and packing her things. She smiled when she saw him enter the room and he immediately moved to help her. They packed her things in silence and they were just finishing when Carson and Laura walked into the room.

"Somebody's eager to get out of here," Laura stated humorously.

"Not that I don't love your company but I hate hospitals," Elizabeth replied.

"We just thought we'd see you off," Carson told her. John put the last of her things in her bag and closed it before lifting the strap over his shoulder to carry it. The four of them walked out of the hospital and Elizabeth said her goodbyes before John led her to the car. He opened the passenger door for her and allowed her to get in before he closed it and put her bag in the back. Elizabeth spent the entire journey silently staring out of the window. Neither of them said anything until they arrived home.

"Home sweet home," John said quietly as he got out of the cat, he was about to go and help Elizabeth out but she got out before he could even get to her side of the car. John got her bag out of the back and opened the front door to let her in.

Elizabeth took in the sight of her home which looked exactly the same as when she'd left it. It was strange knowing it had been weeks since she'd been there when from her perspective it had only been days. Her eyes landed on all the pictures of her and John that were placed all over the room. All the times when they had been happy, they had thought it would last forever, they were wrong. She did miss those times though, they felt like another lifetime.

TBC


	16. Chapter 16

**Steph7085 – **I'm glad you liked the scene with Michael and thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Suzotchka1 – **John and Elizabeth do need to sit down and talk but I'm not going to make it that easy. I figured just because Liz was in a car crash it doesn't make all their problems just vanish. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Fyd818 – **Things aren't going to get much better for John and Elizabeth yet I'm afraid but I'm glad you liked the scene where Michael got taught his lesson and John's line about the cops. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Tiril Nordie **– I'm glad you like the Laura and Carson pairing and Ronon and Teyla are my fave pairing too. I love Ronon's protectiveness of Teyla on the show despite the fact that she doesn't really need it. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

- - -

Chapter 16

It had been a few days since Elizabeth had been released from the hospital. She was finding it much easier and far less painful to move around. Physiotherapy was going well and Laura was sure she would be back to a hundred percent within a few weeks. Being home had been exactly how she had expected it to be, uncomfortable and awkward. Things were no better between her and John than they had been before she'd had her accident. In some ways they almost seemed worse. Elizabeth was still angry with him for not making it home in time for their dinner and John had his guilt over the accident eating away at him.

She was looking forward to when she would be able to get back to work. She knew everyone would be feeling sorry for her and as much as she knew she was going to hate that she needed to get out of the house. More precisely she needed an escape form the awkwardness that filled it whenever she and John were in it together. She had spoke to Laura and Carson about the possibility of going back to work now that she was getting better and they had both told her she should be able to go back next week if all was well.

She was sat on the couch drinking her coffee and reading her book when John walked in ready to go to work. He had at least stopped leaving for work before she woke up on a morning and coming home long after she had gone to sleep so at least they actually saw each other even if they didn't really talk. He offered her a small smile as he tried to locate his keys and Elizabeth resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she picked them up from the coffee table and held them up in the air. John spotted her movement and smiled in amusement at himself before taking them from her hands.

"Thanks," he said quietly.

"Your welcome," she replied equally as quietly and he stared at her for a long moment before taking a deep breath to mentally shake himself.

"I have to go to work, I'll see you tonight," he told her as he turned to leave.

"I'm not going anywhere," she mumbled bitterly under her breath as she heard the sound of the front door opening and closing. She waited until she heard the sound of his engine fade away before turning back to her book. She wasn't even taking in what she was reading her mind was too occupied by other thoughts. Over the last few days she had managed to read half of the book without actually knowing what was going on in it.

- - -

Teyla was about to leave for work when there was a knock at the door. She was only mildly surprised when she opened it to reveal Ronon stood waiting patiently for her. She stepped back to let him into her house and closed the door behind her. It had been days since she'd seen Michael so she figured whatever Ronon and probably John had done had worked. It felt as though a huge weight had been lifted and she felt better than she had in a long time. Parts of her life finally seemed to be putting themselves back together, Michael was gone and Elizabeth was recovering nicely from the accident however other parts just seemed to get more and more complicated.

"That's looking better," Ronon stated gesturing to the bruise on her cheek and Teyla unconsciously lifted her hand to touch it.

"Yeah, it's almost gone and with a little foundation it'll be completely invisible," she replied with a small smile. "So do I want to know what you did to Michael?"

"Like I said he just needed scaring," he told her with a shrug.

"What did you do to him?" Teyla asked curiously.

"John and I followed you around for a couple of days and found him hanging around the museum. We followed him into the alleyway and I strangled him and told him if he came near you I'd kill him. John made sure he wouldn't call the cops and we left."

"You strangled him?" she questioned.

"I barley touched him, he won't even have a mark."

"Okay, well I think it worked. I haven't seen him in days," she informed him.

"That's good."

"Thank you," she told him seriously as her eyes locked with his "Thank you for helping me, for caring."

"I will always care," he replied his voice as serious as hers and full of as much emotion as she had ever heard from him and it took her a moment to recover her senses.

"I, em, have to go to work," she said breaking eye contact with him as she turned to grab her bag.

"Yeah, me too," he said sadly and she closed her eyes against the torrent of emotions it caused. She quickly headed to the door and allowed Ronon to leave before locking her door and getting in her car. She saw Ronon's car drive away and finally released the breath she hadn't realised she had been holding. Her hands gripped the steering wheel tighter as she leant her head against it. She took several deep breaths to calm her raging emotions and lifted her head, starting the car she headed to work.

- - -

"You have got to be kidding me," John stated in exasperation as he and Ronon sat at their desks "So the husband was having an affair with the sister."

"It would seem so," Ronon replied.

"Why would she tell us that Marie thought her husband was having an affair if the affair was with her?" John questioned his exasperation with this case increasing by the second.

"Maybe she thought it would make us less suspicious of her," Ronon suggested with a shrug.

"I hate that we didn't see this coming," John told him bitterly.

"We were both kind of distracted by other things" Ronon replied sounding as though he was only half paying attention to their conversation.

"Well I suppose we'd better go and have another talk with the two of them," John said.

"Suppose so."

"Are you okay, you seem kind of… distracted?" John asked.

"I' fine, I just…went to see Teyla this morning," Ronon answered.

"Ah, that explains it," John stated receiving a mild glare from his partner. "Is she okay?"

"She said she hasn't seen Michael in days."

"Well that's good," John said cheerfully.

"Yeah, you should have seen her she look better than she has in weeks," Ronon explained.

"This is all good news," John informed his partner, "So why do you look so sad?"

"It's nothing," Ronon replied shaking his head, "Let's go."

John knew it wasn't nothing but he also knew if Ronon didn't want to tell him there was no use in trying. He knew Ronon would talk to him when he was ready so John left it at that. He stood up and followed his partner out of the building and toward their car.

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

**Tiril Nordie – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the Ronon and Teyla scene, they're my absolute fave couple. It used to be DanJan but now it's Spanky and Sparky! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Fyd818 – **I want to hug John and Elizabeth too, I feel like I'm being mean now lol. Things are looking up for Teyla and I'm glad you like the friendships in this story and I hope you like this chapter, thanks for the review.

**Steph7085 – **Thanks for the review, I hope you like this chapter.

**Izzles – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like the Ronon and Teyla scenes and the John and the John and Elizabeth ones too.

**LizzieNova66 – **I love Ronon and Teyla too, they are so prefect together. Michael comes into the show late season two, I won't say anymore cos I don't wanna spoil it for you. Thanks for the review.

- - -

Chapter 17

Elizabeth had finally been given the go ahead to return to work so long as she didn't overdo it. She had two classes to teach today but she was sure she could manage it. As she walked into the university she was met immediately by her colleague David. He had taken over most of her classes whilst she'd been gone and had spent the better part of the last 24 hours on the phone with her catching her up on everything.

"Hey," he greeted as she arrived and she smiled her own greeting.

"Hi."

"You sure you're up for this cos I think everyone would understand if you needed more time," he told her.

"I'm fine, I'm going nuts at home with nothing to do," she replied with a small smile as they walked toward her office. He opened the door for her and she walked through finding it almost exactly the same as she had left it. Clearly it had been cleaned regularly and there were several files on her desk which hadn't been there before.

"Your students know what happened so I'm sure they'll go easy on you for a few days at least," David stated humorously.

"Well that would be nice," she replied smiling.

"How's John?" he asked and the question threw her slightly wondering why he would ask about her husband.

"He's fine," she replied quietly.

"I'll leave you to it," David told her and walked out of the room. Elizabeth glanced at the clock, she had arrived a little later than she wanted to which didn't give her much time to prefer for her first lesson. She located the text book she would need and the lesson notes she had drawn up before heading to the class room.

The students were already inside waiting for her and the room fell silent as she entered. She ignored the curious glances and whispered conversation that suddenly filled the room as she put her things on the desk.

"Miss Weir," one of the students called and she turned to look at her. "Welcome back."

Elizabeth smiled gratefully and nodded her head slightly. "It's good to be back, now open your text books on page 33, we're going to be starting political history today."

There were several murmurs across the classroom as everyone did as they'd been instructed and Elizabeth smiled to herself; it did feel good to be back.

- - -

Teaching her morning class had been fairly easy, they had all done everything she had said and since they had been starting a new topic it had been a lot of her talking and them listening. She had a couple of hours before her next class and was going to head down to the cafeteria for lunch when David walked into her office.

"How'd it go, I trust they weren't too brutal."

"They were very well behaved actually," she told him with a smile.

"Well how about we skip the cafeteria food which I warn you has got worse in your absence and go get something from the diner down the road?" he asked her.

"Sure," Elizabeth replied after a moment as she put her files in her desk and grabbed her jacket and bag. The headed out of the university and walked the short distance to the diner. She had been there many times before with various colleagues and a couple of times with Teyla since the museum wasn't too far away either.

"You can tell me to shut up if this is none of my business," David began, "But how are things at home?"

Again Elizabeth was thrown by his question and she looked at him silently for several moments. "What do you mean?"

"It's no secret that you've been having…problems, I was just wondering how things were," he told her quietly.

"Every relationship has its bad moments, this is just one of ours," she replied somewhat uncomfortably.

"It's lasting a little longer than a moment don't you think," he stated before ordering his food. Elizabeth watched him converse with the waitress wondering exactly what he had meant by that. He had always been a little too personal with her, in fact the only people she felt comfortable talking that personally with was John, Teyla and possibly Ronon - well usually John, at the moment she didn't feel comfortable talking to him at all.

- - -

Teyla decided to use her lunch break to take a walk and clear her head. She had finally managed to convince Adam that Michael was gone so he had let her leave alone. She walked through the park trying to sought through her thoughts when a familiar voice drew her back to reality.

"Teyla."

She turned to see Ronon standing behind her and she looked at him curiously. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Well if you want me to go then I'll just be on my way," he said humorously and Teyla smiled in amusement.

"That's not what I meant, shouldn't you be at work?" she questioned.

"I get lunch breaks too you know," he teased.

"So you thought you'd take a walk in the park?" she asked as he walked to her side and they both continued to walk together.

"You did, besides we used to come here all the time," he stated a note of sadness in his voice.

"Yeah we did," Teyla replied and they fell into silence for several minutes as they continued to walk. They were approaching the gate at the back of the park that would lead them to the street near the museum when Teyla stopped and turned to Ronon finding herself closer to him than she had realised. "I have to get back to work," she told him but made no move to do so.

Ronon leaned his head down towards hers catching her lips in a hesitant kiss. Without thinking she responded kissing him back as he deepened the kiss. It was hungry, desperate and so full of passion it made her mind go completely blank. She surrendered to the familiar feel of his lips on hers, his hands on her back and the side of her face, all of the things that she knew so well and had missed more than she had realised.

As if switching itself back on her mind suddenly caught up with what she was doing and she broke off the kiss. "I have to go," she said breathlessly and turned to walk away. She had barely gone more than a few feat before she started running and she didn't stop until she reached the museum. She slowed her pace to a walk and headed straight to her office locking the door behind her and collapsing against it letting her body slide to the floor. A quiet sob escaped her lips and she finally allowed herself to cry.

TBC


	18. Chapter 18

**Steph7085 – **(Joins in throwing sporks at David) I hate him too. I'm glad you liked the Ronon and Teyla kiss. Thanks for the review.

**Tiril Nordlie – **Sorry I hope I got it right this time, thanks for the review and I hope you like this chapter.

**Fyd818 – **Yep you will have to wait and see cos I'm not giving anything away. I'm so glad you liked the Spanky kiss, I've had that scene planned since I started writing this story. I want to hug Teyla too. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks so much for the review.

**Izzles – **Glad you liked the Spanky scene and you'll have to wait and see what David's up to. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Alex – **Thanks for the review and I'm glad you liked the Spanky scene, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 18

Ronon arrived back at his desk to where John was sat with a file in his hand clearly engrossed in whatever it said. He dropped into his seat with a heavy sigh he hadn't been able to suppress and his partner looked up from the file in his hands. John seemed to study him for a moment, probably debating whether or not to ask him what was wrong, apparently he decided not to.

"I got a call from Annie Davis, the victims' friend, apparently she neglected to tell us something the other day," John informed his partner.

"And that would be?" Ronon questioned patiently.

"That she also thought the husband was having an affair, though she thinks she knows who it was with," John stated and at Ronon gave him look that told him to spit it out. "Sandra Bartlett."

"The victims' sister?" Ronon asked only slightly surprised.

"That's the one, you know this makes me glad I have no siblings," John retorted.

"We didn't need siblings to ruin our marriages," Ronon replied bitterly.

"Well aren't we cheerful today," John stated sarcastically. "Though it all does kind of ruin your faith in happy relationships."

"I think we should bring both of them in and we should probably get warrants for their DNA," Ronon told his partner who nodded his head in agreement and picked up his phone.

Ronon waited for his partner to finish, he could still feel the tingle on his lips left behind by his kiss with Teyla. Why had he done it, why the hell had he kissed her? If things hadn't been awkward enough between them before they'd be unbearable now. He hadn't intended to do it, it had just happened. It hadn't been entirely one sided though, she had kissed him back but he wasn't sure that would help the situation at all.

"Let's go," John said as he stood up to leave, Ronon followed after him still lost in his own thoughts wondering exactly what he was supposed to do now. He'd just made everything far more complicated.

- - -

Sandra Bartlett had been less than pleased with being dragged down to the station for questioning but she had gone without much protest and grudgingly agreed to allow them to test her DNA. The husband however had been another matter entirely; they had almost had to arrest him to get him to go with them and then had threatened to pin him down in order to get the DNA sample.

He hadn't admitted to anything but John had a feeling he wouldn't have to, his DNA would most likely match the sample taken from beneath her fingernails and the scratch marks on his hand definitely supported his theory.

Ronon had been distracted all afternoon; no it had been worse than distracted. Something had very obviously upset him some time between him leaving for lunch and returning but he couldn't think what it could be. The only thing that ever made him visibly upset was when something happened with Teyla, though he didn't think anything could have happened in the hour he'd gone for lunch, but he could be wrong.

He arrived home and saw several files and text books on the table that told him Elizabeth was home. He searched the house locating her asleep in bed, it had been her first day back at work and he knew it had probably taken a lot out of her. He walked over to the bed crouched down next to her side where she was curled up under the covers.

She always looked so peaceful when she slept, no matter what else was going or what emotional state she was in when she was awake; she always looked peaceful in her sleep. He watched for a few moments his face filled with an affection he couldn't show her when she was awake. He brushed a stray curl away from her face and tucked it behind her ear. She didn't stir at the contact and he continued to watch her for a minute before walking out of the room and leaving her to sleep.

He went back downstairs and sat on the couch, turning on the T.V and flicking through the channels finding nothing to watch. Leaving on a black and white movie that he wasn't really interested in he let his mind drift. Without realising it he fell asleep.

- - -

Teyla was sat in her office at the museum; she was exhausted having barely slept at all last night. She couldn't make her mind shut off and it had irritated her to no end. Ronon had kissed her, why had he kissed her? Even worse, why the hell had she kissed him back?

Just when her life seemed to be settling down again this had to happen. She seemed to go from one drama to the next right now; her impending divorce, Elizabeth's accident, Michael's reappearance and now she had made what was either the most stupid or best mistake she had ever made, possibly both.

Why did it have to be so hard? She knew her feelings for Ronon had not changed but for whatever reason loving him had not been enough. They had just drifted further and further apart until the space between them had been so big it seemed impossible to close it. It would be easier if she hated him, if they had been screaming and shouting at each other and going through an ugly divorce that had them battling viciously with each other. Instead they were perfectly pleasant with each other and sometimes the spark of what they had once had was visible again.

She wished things could be different but they weren't. This was how things had turned out and there was no sense in going back just to make the same mistakes all over again. People didn't change, Michael was a perfect example of that and if she and Ronon tried to go back the same thing would undoubtedly happen again.

There was a knock at the door that drew her out of her musings and a moment later Adam's head appeared. "Teyla, the new artefact for the Egyptian display has arrived."

"I'll be right there," Teyla told him and he nodded his head before it disappeared again. She took a deep breath pushing her thoughts away to be analysed in her own time and not when she was meant to be working.

- - -

Elizabeth had woken that morning to find that John had fallen asleep on the couch though whether that was by accident or choice she didn't know. He had woken up before she'd left and hadn't seemed to notice it had actually upset her but she had been busy getting ready for work. They hadn't even exchanged the usual 'good mornings' and forced smiles.

David had been hovering around between classes and she was sure he had something to say but she wasn't sure she entirely wanted to hear it. Nevertheless he was her colleague and she supposed she considered him a friend so if he tried to talk to her she would have to let him. That was if his constant hovering didn't force to pry whatever it was out of him first.

As if reading her thoughts David walked into the room. "Hey," he greeted and Elizabeth knew he wasn't going to talk.

"Hi," she replied before turning back to the text book she had been reading through.

"How are you doing?" he asked and she groaned inwardly, the idle small talk was getting on her nerves.

"The same as I was when you asked me an hour ago, look whatever it is you have to say will you just say it."

"It's none of my business and definitely not my place," he told her and she stopped herself from glaring at him.

"It doesn't matter, just tell me," she instructed and he took a deep breath before sitting at the opposite side of the desk.

"I just think that this thing you have with John, these problems don't seem to be going away. You've been miserable for months, since long before the accident and it's not getting better."

"They're just problems, we're trying to work them out," Elizabeth defended.

"Don't you think you should have worked them out by now or at least have started seeing the light at the end of the tunnel? You're both trying so hard to make it work but maybe what you had is gone, maybe you're holding onto something that isn't there anymore," David stated and gave her a sympathetic look before standing and leaving her office. Elizabeth watched him leave thinking seriously about his words, was it possible he was right, maybe they were holding on to something that just wasn't there any more, maybe it was time to just let go.

TBC


	19. Chapter 19

**Tiril Nordlie – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the last chapter, this one we get to see more of everyone's thoughts, I hope you enjoy it.

**Mari – **I know it was mean planting those thoughts in Lizzie's head, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 – **Thanks for the review, I want to shoot David too (gets out gun) I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Izzles – **(Joins in shouting and throwing sporks at David) I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too, we get to see more of what everyone is thinking in this one.

**Fyd818 – **I want to hurt David too and I feel mean for what I'm putting John and Liz through, I'm sorry for making you sad but I put in the scene of him watching Liz sleep to give everyone hope. I'm not sure who I'm being meaner to at the moment, Sparky or Spanky. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Whirlwind-2005 – **I really don't like David either, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jeanette – **Sparky is one of my fave ships eve, I think it's currently tied with Spanky. Thanks so much for the review, I'm really glad you like my stories and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 19

The small café was fairly quiet with just a few people around and many of them were inside. Elizabeth and Teyla had decided to take full advantage of the sunshine and had sat at one of the tables outside. Teyla's bruise had almost completely healed, it was barely visible without make up and completely invisible with it. They were both enjoying their short lunch break and the chance to spend some quality time together even if it was only for a short while.

"He kissed you?" Elizabeth questioned wanting to make sure she had heard her friend correctly.

"Yeah and the worst part is… I kissed him back," Teyla replied solemnly.

"Why is that the worst part?" she asked her. She had known from the moment Ronon and Teyla had separated that they were still very much in love. Unfortunately they had drifted apart, Ronon's demanding job and Teyla's sometimes guarded personality had driven a wedge between them. They'd had to fight hard to stay together but in the end they had both given up. It was one of the reasons she had fought so hard not to lose what she had with John, she still loved him and she knew on some level that he still loved her. Ronon and Teyla's separation and impending divorce had made them both miserable and that wasn't what she wanted for her and John, though she was beginning to think all of her efforts may have been for nothing.

"We're getting a divorce," Teyla explained as if that had been the obvious answer.

"I know you're getting a divorce," Elizabeth informed her "But you obviously still love him and he even more obviously still loves you."

"But love might not be enough, it wasn't before," Teyla stated with sadness in her voice as she thought back to the end of her relationship with Ronon.

Elizabeth took her words to heart, maybe love wasn't enough and given that love was the only thing holding her and John together now maybe it was time to let go. She wasn't about to voice those thoughts now whilst Teyla was sitting in front of her. If anyone belonged together it was her and Ronon and she'd be damned if she said something that resulted in them not getting back together.

"Anyway, that's enough about me and Ronon," Teyla said suddenly "How are you and John doing?"

"No different than before the accident," she told her "No, that's not true, we're actually doing worse."

"Why?" Teyla questioned.

"I don't know, it's like there's this big empty space between us. Everything we've gone through and everything bad that's happened is just hanging in the air around us. This guy at work said something to me the other day that has me thinking. He said maybe we're just holding onto something that isn't there anymore."

Teyla regarded her for several moments before speaking "This guy wouldn't happen to be David would it?"

"Yeah," Elizabeth replied.

"David, the guy that's had a thing for you for years and would be perfectly happy to see you and John split up. You're not seriously going to listen to a single thing he has to say on this matter are you?" Teyla asked incredulously.

"Ordinarily no, but what he said made sense, maybe he's right and John and I should just let go," Elizabeth explained and Teyla gave her a sympathetic look.

"In the end this is your choice but don't let anything that man says be the reason you decide," Teyla told her before looking at her watch. "I have to get back to work."

Elizabeth stood up at the same time as Teyla and they both picked up their bags. "Don't make a decision too quickly," Teyla said as she hugged Elizabeth.

"And don't you dismiss anything too quickly either," she replied pointedly and the two women pulled apart. Teyla smiled to her friend before heading in the direction of the museum shouting 'bye' over her shoulder.

- - -

"So Mr Bartlett," John began as he sat down opposite Marie Bartlett's husband whilst Ronon stood by the door leaning on the wall. "Why don't you tell us how you got the cuts on your arms and the back of your hands."

"Marie's friend Annie has a cat, the thing never did like me," he explained.

"Cat's a good judge of character," Ronon stated flippantly from his position by the door and John smiled slightly though Bartlett didn't seem amused.

"Here's a better question for you then," John said "How did your skin end up underneath Marie's fingernails?"

If the man had been thinking straight he could have come up with a million logical reasons for that skin to be there. John wouldn't have believed him and it may not have held up in court but he could have tried. However John had been counting on the man panicking slightly and that was exactly what he got.

"She found out," he said anxiously "She found out I was having an affair."

"Who were you having the affair with?" Ronon asked.

"Her sister, Sandra. Marie found out, she was hysterical, shouting at me and telling me she was going to leave. She kept shouting, said that when people found out what we'd done we'd never be able to show are faces again, that she was going to take everything. I snapped, I reached for the knife on the counter and stabbed her. She bled to death in front of me, it only took a minute."

Ronon stepped forward and Bartlett was arrested and taken away. As John and Ronon left the room they saw Sandra Bartlett watching the scene in front of her. "I never wanted this," she said quietly "I never wanted to hurt her, everything just happened, I never thought for one second he was even capable of this."

"Well now you know," John stated as he and Ronon walked away. They arrived back at their desks ready for the paperwork that would be coming there way. They sat at their desks in silence for several minutes.

"I kissed Teyla," Ronon stated suddenly and John looked up only mildly surprised.

"When?"

"The other day in the park," he confessed "She was just there and we were talking and I kissed her."

"What did she do?" he asked though he already knew the answer.

"Kissed me back and then ran off," he replied and John nodded his head knowingly. He looked at Ronon who looked completely dejected and he sighed to himself.

"You should go talk to her," John informed him and Ronon looked at him as though he was insane for even suggesting the idea. "Obviously there are some unresolved issues between you and some feelings that you need to sort out. You still love her and she still loves you, doesn't that make it worth at least talking to her?"

"Why don't you talk to Elizabeth?" Ronon asked evasively.

"That's different," John told him "Elizabeth and I have been fighting for what we had for a long time, we're way beyond talking about it."

"You giving up John?" Ronon questioned and John sighed deeply as he leaned back in his chair.

"I don't know what I'm doing, she says she wants space to figure things out but it's just pushing us further apart."

"You'll figure it out," Ronon told him.

"Lets hope it's sooner rather than later," John replied and sat forward in his chair again. "Look, the bad guy's arrested and the rest of the afternoon will just be paperwork. Teyla finishes work in fifteen minutes, why don't you go talk to her?"

Ronon seemed to consider his suggestion for a moment before nodding his head slowly. "I think I will."

"Then go," John instructed his voice barely above a whisper and Ronon stood up and left.

TBC


	20. Chapter 20

**Tiril and Jannickie Nordlie – **Thanks for the review, I want to hurt David too though nothing quite that brutal has to come to mind lol. I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too.

**Fyd818 – **I'm glad you liked Ronon's line about the cat and the friendship scenes in the last chapter, I thought the story needed one big friendship chapter in it before the end which sadly is fast approaching. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Steph7085 – ** I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **Thanks for the review, glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too.

**Whirlwind-2005 – **I hope things work out too lol, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jeanette – **I'm glad you liked the scene at the café, thanks for the review and I hope you like this chapter.

**Izzles – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the friendships in the last chapter, I thought it was needed before the fast approaching end to this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 20

Teyla's car was parked in the driveway indicating that she was home. Ronon approached the door suddenly wanting to turn around and run away. He couldn't though, this was too important, he had to do this. He knocked on the door and waited the few moments it took Teyla to answer it. Her face became ashen the moment she opened the door to see him standing there.

"I think we need to talk," he informed her quietly and she nodded her head slowly as she turned and walked back into the house. Ronon followed her silently closing the door behind him. She stopped and a few moments later turned around to face him.

"Look, I know that with everything that's happened lately our emotions were up in the air and things happened," Teyla started rambling.

"Teyla," he said cutting her off as he suppressed a small smile "What happened in the park… I meant it and as far as I'm concerned it wasn't a mistake."

"Ronon, we can't do this. After everything that's happened… I can't go through it again. I can't go back to just to fail again."

"Who says we'd fail again?" Ronon asked her.

"Who says we wouldn't?" she countered and he could see she was fighting to hold back tears.

"I love you," he told her.

"Maybe love isn't enough, it wasn't enough before and nothing's changed since then."

"Everything's changed, I hate being without you Teyla, we're both miserable like this and all I can think is that I should have fought harder. I never should have given up on us. What do we have to lose by trying?"

A tear finally escaped Teyla's eye and rolled slowly down her cheek. Ronon stepped forward and brushed it away with his thumb leaving his hand on the side of her face.

"I love you too," Teyla whispered and Ronon lowered his lips to her, catching them in a desperate kiss.

- - -

Elizabeth turned the lights in her office off and put the box of files she was carrying on the floor as she locked the door. Picking the box back up she headed down the corridor to where she almost ran into David. Fortunately he sidestepped her before she could hit him however she was knocked slightly off balance. He grabbed the box in her hands helping her to steady herself before taking it from her.

"Sorry," she apologised smiling in amusement at herself.

"That's okay," he replied.

"Thank you," she said as he gestured for her to precede him down the corridor. He followed her out of the university and to her car. He placed the box in the passenger seat for her before turning to look at her.

"About what I said the other day, I'm sorry it was none of my business," he stated.

"That's okay, I told you to tell me and I suppose it gave me something to think about," she explained and he nodded his head.

"Have you thought about it?" he questioned.

"Yeah, a lot actually."

"Did you come to any conclusion?"

"Not yet," she told him "There's a lot of history between us, I don't want to throw it all away by deciding anything too quickly, we've worked hard to stay together this long."

"Well, at the risk of talking out of place again, the only thing you seem to be doing by staying together is hurting yourselves," he said before leaving and Elizabeth watched him go. His parting shot once again echoing in her mind as she got in her car to drive away.

- - -

John arrived at work to find Ronon in a clearly much better mood than he had been yesterday. He sat down opposite his partner and stared at him though Ronon just stared back.

"Are you going to tell me?" John questioned in frustration.

"Tell you about what?"

"So I'm guessing from your mood it went well yesterday afternoon," John stated.

"We talked and we decided to try again," Ronon replied finally giving John his answer.

John grinned "That's great."

"Yeah, we're taking it slow though, we don't mess this up again."

"I really am happy for you, both of you deserve this," John told him glad his two friends were figuring things out at last. Now all he had to do is figure out his own marriage, if there was anything left of it to save.

"You and Elizabeth deserve it to," Ronon stated suddenly.

"I'm beginning to think we've just been avoiding the inevitable," John replied sadly at the thought of his marriage ending.

"You still love her, the biggest mistake I ever made was giving up on my relationship with Teyla. You give up now John and you'll regret it, I can promise you that."

"Why does it have to be so difficult?" John asked sighing.

"Wouldn't be worth it if it wasn't."

"I suppose not, I should talk to her," John said.

"Yeah."

"I'll do it later."

TBC


	21. Chapter 21

**Steph7085 **- Yep, I think I got that, thanks for the review, I hate David too but that's the way I wrote him I guess. What makes you think John and Liz get back together, oh well I guess you'll have to wait and see lol.

**Jeanette – **I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I figured it was about time this story had a happy moment in it, especially for poor Teyla I've been torturing her in this fic. Fingers crossed for John and Liz and thanks for the review.

**Fyd818** – I do jump and down squeeing all the time and I get those looks too lol. I'm glad you liked the Ronon and Teyla scene and as for David, I'd like to hurt him too. John has a reason for not talking g to Liz straight away and as for the Sparky ever after, well you'll just have to wait and see. Thanks for the review and I'm rely glad you liked the last chapter. 

**Jannickie Nordlie – **Fingers crossed for the talk between John and Elizabeth, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Manah – **Welcome to the world of SG Fics! Thanks for the review and I'm glad you like the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

**Izzles – **(joins in squeeing) I'm glad you liked the Ronon and Teyla scene and you'll just have to keep your fingers crossed for John and Liz. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Whirlwind-2005 – **John has a reason for not talking to Elizabeth right away and fingers crossed for that conversation. I'm glad you liked the Ronon and Teyla scene and thanks for the review.

- - -

Chapter 21

John had spent the entire day trying to figure out exactly what to do about his failing relationship with Elizabeth. He had battled over whether to call it quits and end it now or whether he should continue fighting for it. He knew he should have talked to her yesterday but he wanted to get his thoughts sorted out in his head first, this could quite possible be the most important conversation of his life, there was no way he was going to risk screwing it up. After thinking it over instead of doing the paperwork he should have been doing he knew exactly what he was going to do. It was doing neither of them any good the way the were now but at the same time he wasn't ready to just give up. He would make one last big effort to reach out to Elizabeth and start putting things right, if she didn't want to know then he would leave it at that. He'd almost tried to talk to her last night but when she'd arrived him she had very obviously not been in the mood to talk.

He had left work an hour early and headed to the university knowing he would get there just in time for Elizabeth finishing work. Sure enough as he pulled the car into the parking lot she was heading to her own vehicle. He watched her for a moment as she put the box she was carrying into the passenger side. He briefly considered waiting to have this conversation when they were home especially since it looked like it was about to rain but he needed to do this before he lost his nerve.

He got out of the car and Elizabeth must have heard him close the car door because she immediately looked up at him. She was very obviously surprised to see him there but she didn't say anything as he walked over to her.

"I need to talk to you," he stated.

"Can't it wait until I get home?" she questioned glancing quickly at the sky apparently she didn't plan to get stuck in the rain. Given what happened last time she went out when it was pouring it down he couldn't blame her but he needed to get this done.

"No," he replied simply and she looked at him curiously for a moment before taking a few steps toward him.

"Okay," she said slowly as she stopped and John couldn't help but notice the space still between them, it seemed to reflect the current state of their marriage.

"We're a mess aren't we?" he questioned sadly but she didn't respond in all honesty he hadn't expected her to. "God, what happened to us, we used to be so happy, completely inseparable and now we're uncomfortable just being in the same place."

"John…" Elizabeth said quietly.

"I love you," he stated "I know I haven't told you that anywhere near as often as I should. I hate the way we are now, I hate not being able to talk to you or to hold you in my arms. I miss you."

Elizabeth stared at him a moment the tears in her eyes threatening to fall. She stood there silently seeming to consider his words but he couldn't get any reading from her. Usually he could tell exactly what she was thinking, what she was feeling but in that moment he had nothing.

"Elizabeth," a voice said and they both turned to see a man standing there, John recognised him as her colleague David. He had a meaningful look in his eyes that was concentrated completely on Elizabeth as if trying to send her a silent message. John turned to look at Elizabeth and she slowly turned her eyes to him before looking back at David. She was clearly fighting some inner battle over her decision.

She turned away from them both and walked toward the university without another word and John watched her go figuring that was her decision. He had his answer and now he would have to deal with it, he was walking back to his car when the first drops of rain began to fall and within seconds it was pouring it down.

He got into his car already soaking wet and started the engine. He didn't even look at David as he drove away, he knew that man showing up and somehow affected Elizabeth's decision.

When he got home he didn't know what to do, should he pack his bags and leave? If this was the end of their relationship he wanted her to have the house, at least that way he'd know she had somewhere safe to live. He couldn't bring himself to do it yet though, hopefully he would have some time before Elizabeth got home.

- - -

Elizabeth made it as far as the doors to the university before she stopped and looked back to where she had left John standing. She couldn't believe she had just done that, she had just walked way from him without a word. She didn't even know why she'd done it, her mind had been so confused that she had done it without thinking, she'd just wanted to get away from it. David had been messing with her head for days and whilst she didn't think that had been his intention he had left her completely confused.

John probably thought the worst, he had probably taken her sudden and wordless departure as a decision regarding their marriage. That wasn't it at all, in fact if David hadn't shown up when he did she probably would have told John that she loved him too. That she did want to try and make things right between them again.

She doubted she'd be able to get out of this one though, she was just glad she hadn't been able to see his face when she'd walked away. It was then that she saw David walking toward her and she felt a sudden irrational wave of anger hit her.

"Are you okay?" he asked her as he stopped in front of her.

"No, no I'm not okay," she replied "I shouldn't have walked away like that, I just left him standing there so no, I'm not okay." She was angry at him but mostly she was angry at herself.

"Maybe this is better for both of you, now you don't have to keep trying to hold on," he told her.

"Well maybe I want to hold on, maybe I'm not ready to let go of this yet, I love John."

"Is loving him really going to be enough?" David questioned.

"I hope so," she said as she walked back toward her car, hopefully John would be able to forgive her for walking away from him.

- - -

Ronon was on his way back to his apartment after spending several hours doing paperwork. John had left early to go and talk to Elizabeth and he couldn't help but wonder how his friend was doing. His cell phone rung and he picked it up from the passenger seat beside him.

The called ID read 'Teyla' and he smiled slightly as he pressed the small button to answer it. "Dex," he answered out of habit.

"Hey it's me," Teyla said just before the loud horn of the lorry behind him sounded out. "Where are you?" she asked the horn obviously sounding as loud as on her end of the line as his. The lorry started to speed up the larger vehicle clearly trying to overtake him at a ridiculous speed. If he wasn't concentrating on not getting into an accident he would have made the idiot pull over and arrested him.

"Trying not to get run down by the idiot lorry driver behind me," he told her as he drove his car nearer the side of the road and let the driver past. He waited until the vehicle was a safe distance ahead of him before turning his attention back to Teyla. "What's up?"

"I was just wondering if you were doing anything tonight," she questioned.

"Other than the usual paperwork and staring at a wall, no," he answered "Want me to take you out to dinner?"

"Yeah" she replied and he could hear the smile in her voice as she spoke. It was a sound he had missed more than he'd realized until that moment.

"I'll pick you up at 7?" he asked her.

"Sounds like a plan, I'll see you then."

"Bye," he said as he hung up the phone and tossed into the seat next to him. Turning his full attention on to the road in front of him as he neared his apartment. He felt better than he had in months, like his life was finally getting back to the way it should be. The only thing he needed now was to get a call from John saying that things had gone well and his life would be well on its way to being perfect again.

TBC


	22. Chapter 22

**Nogigglingmajor – **(joins in booing) thanks for the review, this is the second to last chapter so I hope you enjoy it.

**Jannicke Nordlie – **Thanks for the review, next chapter is the last so I hope you enjoy this one.

**Wormhole – **I'm glad you like the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter too. Only one more chapter to go now, thanks for the review.

**Fyd818 – **Yep John finally said it and it was about time too. I felt kind of bad for what I did to him in the last chapter, making him think that Liz didn't want to keep trying at their marriage. I had to add the little bit of Spanky fluff into the last chapter, there's been so much sadness in this story I had to put a happy moment in there. Glad you liked Ronon's thought about the lorry driver. Only one more chapter to go after this one, hope you enjoy it!

**Mari – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like the little twists in the story. This is the second to last chapter so I hope you enjoy it.

**Steph7085 – **No don't die! Lol. Thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy this last chapter.

**Izzles – **Glad you liked the Spanky moment in the last chapter, had to put a happy moment in there somewhere. I'm doubly glad you liked the Sparky scene, I wanted to make it emotional whilst keeping it in character and I'm glad that worked as well as Elizabeth's reaction though I feel kind of bad for John. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter, only one more to go.

**Whirlwind-2005 – **(helps search for Cyberbat) I don't like David either but then I wrote him as someone to hate so go figure lol. Glad you liked the Ronon and Teyla scene, the story needed a happy moment. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter, only one more to go.

**Tiril Nordlie – **I hope you enjoyed your trip, thanks for the review, only one more chapter to go so I hope you enjoyed this one.

- - -

Chapter 22

The car pulled into the driveway next to John's and Elizabeth got out quickly. At least she knew he was still here. The rain was still coming down heavy as she approached the doorway to her house, she was soaking wet when she opened the door to find John sitting on the couch. He looked up at her when she walked in, he was just as wet as she was so she figured he hadn't been there long.

He stared at her for a moment before he stood up and made his way toward the doorway. She could see the hurt on his face and it only made her angrier at herself for being the one to cause it. In all the time she'd known him, throughout all their problems she'd never seen him looking so sad, so…defeated.

"John," she called to him as she barely kept her tears from falling. He stopped and turned to her slowly after a moment. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" he asked as though he genuinely didn't know what she'd done wrong but there was no life in voice.

"For walking away," she replied barely above a whisper.

"You don't have to apologise and you don't have to explain," he told her and she closed her eyes for a moment against the torrent of emotions that were threatening to overwhelm her. He wasn't mad at her, he didn't blame her for anything and it only made her feel worse.

"I want to explain… please," she whispered. John continued to stare at her and she took that as a signal to continue. "David was saying stuff to me all week and when he showed up I just… I got confused and I didn't know what to do so I walked away. I didn't mean…" she tried to explain but the tears she had been barely holding back began to fall. "I love you."

John seemed to study her before he took several steps toward her stopping only inches in front of her and staring at her intently. "I want us to work."

"So do I," she told him before he captured her lips in a kiss so full of passion and desperation she could barely breathe. She kissed him back just as intensely deepening the kiss and wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him closer. His hands moved to the sides of her face as he kissed her and even the lack of oxygen couldn't pull them apart for several minutes.

When they finally did pull apart John rested his forehead against hers neither of them were willing to lose the contact with each other. "Ronon and Teyla got back together," John stated suddenly and Elizabeth laughed at the random statement.

"That's really great," she replied and John smiled and kissed her again quickly before wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into a tight embrace. After a few moments he decided they should really get something to eat especially since he hadn't eaten since that morning and they both needed to change out of their wet clothes. He started to pull away but Elizabeth tightened her arms around his neck preventing him from going anywhere.

"Elizabeth, I need to go eat," he told her simply but she still refused to remove her arms from his neck.

"I'm not ready to let go yet," she replied and he caught the double meaning behind her words so he simply held her closer until she was ready to release her grip on him, truth was he wasn't ready to let go yet either.

- - -

The restaurant was beautiful, lit mainly by candle light and a few chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. The red silk table cloths that were draped across the surface of the dark tables matched the red velvet curtains that hung from the windows. It had more of a sentimental value to Teyla and Ronon though, it had been the location of their first date.

That seemed like a lifetime ago especially given that they had never been back since. She couldn't help but smile as she walked through the doors, glad that Ronon had chosen to bring her here. He had refused to tell her where they were going for dinner and it had been so long since she had been there that she hadn't recognised the area until they had pulled into the parking lot.

They were led to the table that Ronon had reserved for them and left to look at the menus. She looked at the long lists of various foods and drinks unable to decide exactly what she wanted. She glanced over the top of the menu at Ronon who was studying his own menu intently. She smiled slightly to herself as she went back to deciding what to eat.

Once she had finally figured it out she put down her menu in time for the waiter to arrive. She ordered her meal and a moment later Ronon ordered his and the young man left.

"Feels like old times," Ronon stated.

"Yeah, it does. We just need John and Elizabeth to figure things out so we can go back to double dating," she replied humorously.

"Well I know John went to talk to Elizabeth today, I don't know what happened though," he informed her.

"I hope they worked everything out," she said.

"I'm sure they will," Ronon told her "Then we can all go to the beach for the day again."

"As long as you don't throw me in the water," she said smiling.

"Where's the fun in that?" he questioned in amusement and they both laughed as the waiter arrived with their drinks. They thanked him before he walked away again.

"Thank you for bringing me here," she told him seriously.

"Your welcome," he told her.

They ate their meals as they talked about all of the good memories they shared and neither one of them mentioned more recent events. When they had finished they left the restaurant and Teyla was surprised when Ronon didn't head toward the car. Instead he headed away from it down the street and to the park at the end. He took hold of her as they entered the gate and she willingly followed him along the path.

It was dark, the only light coming from the stars and the few street lamps that were strategically placed around the park. Normally she was uncomfortable in places like this in the dark, she was more than capable of taking care of herself but there was no sense taking chances. With Ronon there however she felt completely safe.

She leaned into his side and he released her hand instead wrapping his arm around her shoulder. Her arm went around his waist and she revelled in the feeling that she had missed so much.

"I want you to come home," she told him quietly and she knew he'd been slightly surprised by her words.

"You want me to move back in?" he questioned and she nodded her head "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," she replied and he tightened his arm around her as they circled the park before heading back to the car. His cell phone rang the moment they had both closed their car doors.

"Dex."

"Hey, it's John," his partners voice informed him.

"How'd it go?" he asked getting straight to the point in an effort to rid himself of the sudden wave of nervousness that had hit him.

"It's complicated but the short version would be… it went good, we're working it out."

"I'm really happy to hear you say that," Ronon told him in relief.

"Teyla anywhere near you?"

"Right next to me," Ronon replied.

"Tell her for us," John requested.

"Will do, talk to you tomorrow," Ronon said as he hung up and turned to Teyla, she looked at him almost anxiously apparently having figured out what the call was about. "They're working it out."

Teyla smiled "Life could almost be perfect again."

TBC


	23. Chapter 23

Fyd818 – I'm glad you liked the John and Elizabeth scene as well as the Ronon and Teyla scene. I want to go there too lol. This is the last chapter it just sought of ties up the story but I hope you like it anyway. Thanks for all your reviews. 

**Izzles – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad I made you speechless lol, this is the last chapter so I hope you enjoy it.

**Tiril and Jannickie Nordlie – **I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one to, it's the last one, thanks for your reviews.

**Whirlwind-2005 – **No forewarning, this is the final chapter and it kind of ties up the story. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

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Chapter 23

Teyla opened her eyes and closed them again when the sun almost blinded her. She lifted her hand up to her head to shade her eyes and risked opening them again. The sky was clear blue, not a single cloud in sight. She turned her head to the left to where Elizabeth was happily sunbathing in her pink bikini.

She sat up and looked over to where Ronon and John were helping a bunch of kids build what she had to admit was a pretty impressive sandcastle. John was wearing his sunglasses and red swim shorts and Ronon was in his black swim shorts. She was very aware of the stares other women were directing their way. Of course the men that were staring at her in her baby blue bikini and Elizabeth weren't lost on her either.

It had been three months since she had asked Ronon to move back in with her and since John and Elizabeth had decided to really give their marriage another try. It hadn't been a sudden change and they'd had a lot of issues to sort out between the four of them but they were finally getting back to the way they used to be. David had apparently chosen to avoid Elizabeth and despite the fact that it made work harder for her Teyla was fairly sure her friend preferred it that way. There had been no sign of Michael since John and Ronon had used their scare tactics on him for which she was grateful.

She hadn't known they were coming to the beach until that morning. Elizabeth and Teyla both had the day off and were planning to spend it shopping but John and Ronon had secretly booked the day off too. They had packed all the things they would need into the cars without the girls knowing and had woken them early that morning telling them they were off to the beach.

It had taken Teyla half an hour to get ready before Ronon had practically dragged her out of the house. They had driven to Elizabeth's where John had also been dragging his still half asleep wife to the car. Teyla had simply smiled and waved to her friend figuring if they got back out of the cars to talk they'd be in trouble. Ronon had helped John with the surf boards and Teyla had thoroughly annoyed them both by telling them to hurry up.

Elizabeth had dozed off in the car having never been a morning person unless she had her coffee which John had apparently deprived her of. He had however stopped off at a store along the way to get it for her so she was sure he was forgiven.

Teyla laid back in her seat again and closed her eyes. Ronon had told her when he had taken her to dinner that night that they would all go to the beach again if John and Elizabeth sorted things out. She'd hadn't realised he'd actually meant it. As she felt the heat from the sun disappear from her skin she remembered what she had told Ronon. She'd told him not to throw her in the water again but as she opened her eyes and saw him looming over her she knew that was exactly what he intended to do.

She didn't get the chance to offer up any kind of resistance before he had scooped her up into his arms. She tried to struggle free but it was a futile effort and when she heard Elizabeth behind her shouting at John to put her down she simply sighed and resigned herself to her fate. A few moments later Ronon dropped her into the water and it took her a few moments to surface. Elizabeth was right behind her as the two boys swam closer to them.

"You just had to didn't you?" Teyla asked pushing her soaking wet hair behind her ears so it was out of her face and Ronon nodded his head. Teyla and Elizabeth glanced at each other quickly before they both paced their hands on top of their husbands heads dunking them under water.

When both men came back up again they were soaking wet and glaring at the girls. Teyla and Elizabeth simply smiled and started to swim away.

Teyla didn't get very far before Ronon had grabbed her waist and pulled her back to him but she managed to struggle free and splash water at him before making her escape. John had caught up with Elizabeth a few feat away however she seemed far happier accepting defeat and was now floating away in a lip lock with her husband.

Whilst she had been distracted by her friend Ronon had managed to catch up with her and once again pulled her into him. This time Teyla went willingly and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I love you," she said suddenly and whatever plan of revenge Ronon had had for the dunking seemed to fly out of his head.

"I love you too," he told her before he kissed her and in that moment life was perfect again.

THE END

**Authors Note: A big huge thanks to every one who reviewed and extra thanks to Steph for the beta (tacklehugs). I hope you all enjoyed this story!**


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